Paranormal
by Elizabeth142
Summary: Bella has had a "gift" since she was 7 years old now she writes books and gives lectures at the local college. New to the area Edward buys his first house but soon discovers strange things are going on. Will Bella b able to help? All human Bella x Edward
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own anything

BPOV

I was startled awake for the third night in a row. I looked over at the clock and it was 3:15am again. Ugh… I just want to go back to sleep. Well actually a dreamless sleep would be welcome tonight. The last few nights I had been having nightmares again.

Well maybe nightmare is the wrong word for it this time. This was a reoccurring dream I had every so often but it wasn't _just_ a normal dream. It was about a very real night in my life when I was just a kid. It was the night my life changed forever.

**************FLASHBACK*****************

_I was seven years old and this summer I was visiting my dad for 2 weeks for the first time since my parents got divorced and my mother moved me to Phoenix. Usually he would come to Phoenix for a week. But I guess she decided I was old enough to go on my own this year. _

_We had just finished dinner at my dad's favorite restaurant. We sat in silence as we were heading back home in his police car. It was a four lane highway and there was a car next to us waiting for the same red light to change. "Bella" I heard my name being called only it wasn't by my dad._

_I was confused and I looked around. "Bella, you need to tell your father to wait for a minute after the light turns green before he crosses the highway." It was Gran. She was sitting in the back seat. _

"_Bella, this is important, you must tell him now." I turned back to my dad and I did as she asked. "Daddy, when the light turns green, don't cross over highway, you're suppose to wait for a minute first."_

_He just looked at me bewildered. The light had turned green at that moment but he was still looking at me. Then we heard the crash. We both faced forward in time to see a semi truck go right through the intersection and hit the car that was once waiting next to us._

_My father just looked shocked. He immediately turned on his lights and started talking into the radio. "I need an ambulance at the intersection of hwy 101 and Turner Rd." he jumped out of the car, and yelled back to me "Wait there Bella, don't move" and he was gone._

_I turned around to see if Gran was still there but she wasn't. I looked outside my window but I still couldn't see anything. "Bella" she called my name again. This time when I looked over she was sitting in my father's seat._

"_Hi Gran, I miss you" she smiled at me. "I've missed you too Isabella."_

_I still wasn't sure how she got here. "Where did you come from?" I asked. "I'm always near by." I heard other sirens coming then and I saw the ambulance pull up to the wreck._

_Then I saw him. He was walking right over to us. He was bleeding everywhere. He came up to the window and looked in... he was just staring at me. It scared me and I turned to face Gran._

"_Just keep your eyes on me sweetheart." I did as she asked. I didn't want to see the man looking at me anymore. Just then my dad came back. I looked up to see him open his car door. Gran was gone; I looked to the back seat and saw her sitting there again._

"_Bella, are you okay?" my dad asked as he sat back down in the car._

"_Yes, I'm fine, is everyone else okay?" I asked. He took a deep breath "Almost everyone" he whispered. The ambulance turned its sirens back on and drove away._

"_Bella, how did you know?" he was looking at me very confused. "Know what daddy?" he took a deep breath. "How did you know not to drive into the intersection?"_

"_Gran told me to tell you to wait." His face went pale at that moment. He didn't say anything for a while. "Bella honey, Gran died last year, you know that." _

"_I know daddy, but she's still here." He was still confused. "What do you mean she's still here?" he was looking right into my eyes. "She's in the back seat; she waited here with me while you were over there."_

_He immediately turned his head to the back of the car. "Bella, no one is in the car with us honey. The back seat is empty." I turned around to look. "I have to go now Isabella, I love you." "I love you too Gran." I looked back to my father. I couldn't understand why he didn't see her._

"_She had to leave, but she was sitting here with me." I tried to make him understand. "Okay honey, let's go home and we'll talk about this later."_

_We drove home both of us silent. "Time for bed Bella." I didn't argue and we both went to our rooms, and straight to bed. I had a nightmare about the bleeding man that night. I couldn't get his face out of my head. In the morning my dad's friend Billy came over and he brought his son Jacob and some donuts. We were all in the kitchen eating when my dad suggested that I take Jake to my room._

_We hung out there for a while but we didnt really know each other and we got kind of bored. There wasn't much to do in my room._ _"Let's go back downstairs, I want some more donuts" Jake said. We walked down the stairs and into the hallway we heard my dad talking to Billy._

_"She said that her grandmother told her to tell me to wait before crossing the highway." He was half whispering. I couldn't hear what Billy said back to him though. But I could hear Charlie clearly. "And you believe in that stuff?"_

**********End of flashback**********


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight

Chapter 2

BPOV

Eventually I fell back asleep. Luckily I only had one other dream and it wasn't scary. I was in a dark room and I was vaguely aware that someone else was with me. I couldn't see anything but I knew I wasn't alone. I called out and though I didn't get a verbal response, right in front of me appeared a pair of truly frightened green eyes that were just staring back at me.

I got out of bed and went straight for the shower. I let the hot water pour down on my back as it loosened up the tightened muscles. As I was drying off I heard my answering machine. I listened intently to the message being left until I realized it was my mother. I already knew what she wanted and I had planned to call her later on that day.

As I was making breakfast I hit the play button on my machine. "Hi honey, its mom again. Can you call me back right away I need your decision if Phil and I will be staying with you while were in town or if it would be easier for us to get a hotel. Call me, love you." I hit the delete button before sitting down to eat.

Lucky for me I worked mostly from home, at least my writing. I was almost finished with my current book and I was going to be taking a break from it for a while. The local college had been after me to start my lectures again as they were getting more and more requests.

I didn't mind doing them; for the most part I really liked it. It was nice to find other people who had an interest in the paranormal. There was a time where I talked more freely about my ability but I quickly learned not to bring up the subject first. A lot of people didn't share in the belief and thought I was either a liar or insane.

Heck when I first discovered my ability to see 'dead people' I thought I was insane myself once I realized that I was the only one that could see them. It didn't help that my step-father Phil agreed with the negative views.

After having arrived back home after my venture to Forks when I was seven and discovered my 'gift' Phil got very uncomfortable around me. At first I didn't even understand it. I honestly thought everyone could see them too. Why wouldn't they?

I couldn't tell the difference most of the time. They looked the same as everyone else. Not an apparition but like a solid person _mos_t of the time. Unless they were bloody or hurt in some way like the 'bleeding man' I saw that first night.

We would be at the park or walking down the street and someone would stop me and say hi or try and talk with me. Apparently that is when my mom and step-dad found out because I would be having conversations with people they couldn't see. Phil would get so angry with me and would starting yelling at me to stop. He was either scared, thought I was just some bratty kid trying to make him mad, or truly insane.

I used to hear my mom and him fighting about it after they thought I was asleep. My mom would defend me at first but then as it continued she started to get just as worried. Her worry was more about 'what would the neighbors think'. Things were getting a little stressed around the house so my mom suggested that I should spend that spring break back in Forks with Charlie.

It turned out to be for the best. Charlie didn't act so uncomfortable around me and while he didn't understand it he didn't treat me like the freak other people did. He never made me feel uncomfortable even though I could tell he was a little nervous sometimes he acted just like normal.

His friend Billy invited us for a BBQ while I was there. He pulled me aside and broached the subject. He explained to me that he thought of it as a gift and that his grandfather had the same ability. It made me feel better because having the ability itself was quite unnerving as a child but to have to deal with parents who didn't want to be around you because of it made it very difficult.

By the time I was twelve Phil had had enough and Renee of course sided with her husband and that's when I moved in with Charlie full time. I hung out at the Black's house a lot. I felt normal there because they truly did understand. Jacob quickly became by best friend.

I would still see Renee and Phil for summer breaks or every other holiday but it never went back to the way it was before. When I graduated high school I moved to Seattle for college. I was an English lit major and minored in parapsychology.

Jake teased me about that a lot until I became friends with another girl who did the same thing. Her name was Leah. I introduced them and they hit it off immediately. She and Jake recently got married and Leah is now pregnant with their first child with the promise that if it was a girl she would be named after me since I got them together.

I had met Rose in one of my parapsychology classes. She didn't have an 'ability' so to speak but she was always interested in the paranormal. She grew up in a house she believed was haunted and was always curious. We became best friends after that.

As I sat down at my desk my phone rang again. "Hello?" I said not having looked at the caller id. "Hey Bella, what are you doing?"

"That depends…. Is this Rose my publisher or Rose my best friend?" she laughed a little. "Well both, Rose your publisher wants to know how the last few chapters are going and Rose your friend wants to know if you want to meet for lunch today?"

"Well since you put it like that, I am on my final chapter and yes lunch sounds great." "How about the taco house at 1:00?" I loved it there it was my favorite restaurant. "See you then."

I worked on my book most of the morning and at 12:30 I grabbed my purse and headed out the door. As I looked down my drive way I saw a young boy about 6 years old, blond hair and blue eyes. He was wearing jean shorts and a white T-shirt. Only the shirt was covered in dirt and was ripped a little. His legs were also dirty like he had been rolling around in the mud.

I have been seeing him on and off for the past few weeks. I would see him at the grocery store, the bank, restaurants, the mall, and more recently outside my window. He would always just stare at me and never attempt to communicate. He never came closer than about 20 feet away.

After getting in my truck and backing out I noticed he was gone. When I got to the restaurant Rose was already waiting. She was munching on chips and salsa and had ordered us margaritas.

"Hey, you started without me." I whined as I sat down taking a drink. "Yeah, I had to get out of the office." She seemed a little upset. "What's going on?" I asked taking a couple chips. "It's Royce." "Uh oh" Rose took a deep breath.

"Yeah, I think there's something going on with him. He is becoming more and more distant and I keep seeing him coming and going out of Kate's office a lot lately. Not to mention he keeps making up excuses about having to stay late for work. And when he does he smells like cigarettes and you know he doesn't smoke. I mean, does he think I'm stupid?" she asked downing the rest of her drink.

The waitress came over and took our order and quickly came back with another margarita for Rose. "We work together, does he not get that I would know if he was that busy he had to stay late that often?"

"I'm sorry Rose, what are you going to do?" she sighed. "Well I think I am going to confront him tonight." Our lunch arrived and but neither of were eating much. "Will you call me tonight and let me know what happens?"

"Of course I will. Enough of my crappy life what's going on with you?" she asked. "Well Renee called and she and Phil are coming to town. I guess Phil has some sort of conference. She keeps asking me if they can stay with me but I'd rather they just got a hotel but I feel bad for turning her down." I said while taking a bit of my taco salad.

"How long will they be here?" she asked finishing her second drink. "A few days. I do miss my mom but Phil and I are just not comfortable with each other still and I'm sure he would rather they stayed in a hotel too."

"Just tell them I'm staying with you, it might be true after tonight anyway." She said slightly dejected. "I'll be right back, I have to go to the bathroom." I told Rose. As I was finished and was washing my hands I looked up into the mirror.

I screamed when I saw the boy standing right behind me. He had never gotten this close before. I just stared at him through the reflection in the mirror. This time he opened his mouth to say something and dirt came pouring out of his mouth. Tears started falling from my eyes as I just watched massive amounts of dirt pile onto the floor. I turned around to look at him and he was gone.

I walked back to our booth. Rose noticed right away something wasn't right. "What happened Bella? What's wrong?"

I couldn't speak at the moment so she told me to go out front and get some fresh air while she paid the bill. I leaned up against my truck while I waited. After only a couple minutes she came outside.

"Bella, what happened?" I told her the story of the little boy I had been seeing recently and about the scene that just occurred in the bathroom. She gasped but quickly hugged me. "Are you going to be okay?" I took a deep breath. "Yeah I am it just took me by surprise, he hasn't gotten that close before and it scared me."

"Do you want me to come over? I can take the rest of the day off?" she asked. "No Rose, I'll be fine, I always am but thanks for the offer."

"If you're sure?" "I am, go back to work and call me later." Luckily she only worked 2 blocks away and I was glad that she walked over especially after the 3 margaritas. I drove home still a little unsettled.

When I got in I decided to call Renee. I got her machine and I was glad. "Hi mom, sorry to take so long to get back to you. So anyway I think it would work out best if you and Phil got a hotel while you're here. Rose may be in need of a place to stay soon and I need to have room available for her. So I guess call me when you get into town."

Later that night I heard a knock on my door. It was about 11:00pm and when I opened it I found that Rose was standing there in tears. It seems that Royce was cheating on her and when she confronted him about it he simply admitted it and asked when she could move out.

Of course the next day she took off of work and we both went over to Royce's to pack her stuff. We had been moving most of the day and I didn't get much sleep the night before. Once we got her things moved into the extra bedroom she took a nap and I opted for a bath.

Steam filled the room as I let the hot water fill up the tub. I had my bath pillow and eye mask I relaxed the best I could. I heard the bathroom door open but Rose didn't say anything. She must have thought I was asleep. After the water started to get cold, I unplugged the drain and grabbed my towel. As I climbed out of the tub I noticed two small handprints on the fogged up mirror.

EPOV

"Are you sure you want to do this honey?" my mom asked me again for what seemed like the 100th time. "Yes of course I'm sure, come on mom it's not like I'm moving across the country or anything." She sighed deeply. "I know but first Alice and now you?"

"Esme, Seattle is only a few hours drive, it's not like we aren't going to be seeing him again. Besides Alice has been living there for a year now and you managed to get over that." My dad tried to help me out.

"But it's not the same as having him in Spokane." She said looking down. "What am I? Chopped liver?" Emmett whined. "Of course not Emmett, I know I am being over emotional and I'm sorry. I know this is a great opportunity for you Edward and I promise to stop making you feel guilty."

"Thank you mom" I said as I gave her a hug. "So are you ready Emmett?" I asked. "Yep, let's go." I was going to drive the U-haul pulling my car while Emmett followed me in his car so he could drive back home. We stopped off at a rest stop to take a break. "Thanks for helping me out with this Em."

"No problem little brother, though I am going to miss having you around." I was going to miss him too, we were very close. "You know you could move out too." I tried to convince him. "Yeah mom would just love that, though the thought has crossed my mind with both you and Alice out there. But I don't see it happening in the near future."

As we were pulling into Seattle I called Alice. "We just got into town, and we're going to put my stuff in storage and then head over." The plan was for me to stay with Alice until I could find my own place. When I had applied for my new job I didn't realize that they would want me to start so soon and I hadn't had time to get one yet. "I can't wait! See you soon."

We got to Alice's and we were exhausted. At least I was, the drive was stressful with that big load and then putting most of my things in storage. "Hey little sis" I said as I pulled Alice in for a hug. "Ew, you stink Edward." I just hugged her tighter. "Both of you do." She added after hugging Emmett.

"You guys can take a shower, there is the main bathroom and I have one in connecting to my bedroom. Take your pick." After we both showered and changed our clothes Alice ordered pizza. Emmett planned on staying the weekend with us and it was nice to have the three of us together again.

"Tomorrow you guys can meet my boyfriend Jasper he has to work but will be over for dinner." Mom mentioned something about her meeting someone about a month ago. "Good, I'm looking forward to it." I said. "Hmmm, yeah so am I" Emmett said with a smirk.

The next day Jasper came over and he turned out to be a really cool guy, even Emmett didn't give him _too_ bad of a time. I hated to see Emmett go but he had to work Monday and so did I. I was really excited about my new job. I was going to be starting my residency at the hospital near where Alice lived.

I had been working extremely long hours and practically no days off. I hadn't had time to look for a place yet and it had been almost 3 weeks and I knew it was past time. Alice never complained and said I was welcome to stay as long as I needed. But I really wanted to get my own place.

When our grandmother died she had left the three of us a sizable inheritance and so buying a house wouldn't be a problem, though after I buy one it will be pretty much used up. I figured real estate was a good investment so I didn't have a problem spending it all on a house. I called a realtor and told her what I was looking for and she said she would come up with a few different options and get back to me.

Within the week she found me 5 different places that had potential. My next day off was the following Saturday. Alice wanted to go with me of course. The real estate agent met us at Alice's house so we could all ride together.

"Hi, I'm Jessica, nice to meet you Mr. Cullen." She extended her hand to me. "Please call me Edward, and this is my sister Alice." "Nice to meet you both." She smiled warmly. "So you're new to the area?" Jessica asked.

"Yes, I just moved here from Spokane, though Alice has been here for a little over a year." I said as we drove off down the street. "Oh really? My husband's family is from Spokane. They live over off of Manito Blvd. near the park."

We had pulled up to the first house at that point. It was really nice, but the back yard was pretty much non existent but we were off to a nice start. "I think you are going to really like this one." Jessica had said as we pulled up to the last house. As we got out of the car her phone rang. "Jessica Newton" she said into the phone.

She opened up the door for us while she finished her phone call. Alice and I looked around. It was a big house with a lot of room and a huge yard. We looked through all the rooms at least twice. It was my favorite by far.

"Obviously it needs a little fixing up as you can see but it has great potential and it is closest to the hospital. As well as the best view." Jessica smiled.

"What do you think Alice?" I could tell she liked it by the sparkle in her eye or it could be just that she sees the redecorating possibilities.

"I love it Edward and think of what we could do to this place." She beamed. "Yeah I was thinking the same thing." I turned to Jessica. "I would like to make an offer."


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer" I do not own twilight

Chapter 3

BPOV

I quickly got dressed and grabbed my brush. "Bella, have you seen my purse?" Rose said as she walked through the open door. She gasped when she saw the handprints on the mirror. Hand prints that should not still be there as the hot steam was long gone but yet they still remained.

"What is that?" she asked cautiously. "Oh, it seems my visitor decided to come in." This wasn't completely unusual. It has happened before but most of the time they don't do things like this.

She shuttered slightly. "I think I saw your purse in the kitchen." I said as we walked out of the bathroom and down the hall. We sat down at the kitchen table. "Are you hungry? We could order pizza or something."

"Yeah that sounds good, I really didn't feel like going out tonight." Rose said flipping her phone open to check her messages. A disappointed look came across her face and I knew it had something to do with Royce."

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked after I had ordered the pizza. "I'm not sure why I'm so upset, well I mean I know why I'm upset. It's because that asshat was cheating on me but strangely enough I think somewhere in the back of my mind I knew it wasn't right between us."

"Well if that's the case then it's better to have gotten out now, even though I'd like to rip his balls off for hurting you." Rose giggled a little. "I know your right, I just wish it didn't happen that way, I just feel like I'm going to be alone forever." I knew what she meant and while I went out on dates, they never got very far after I explained why I write books about the paranormal for a living.

"Well we can be alone together." I said getting up to get a drink. "You want something" I asked grabbing a glass from the cupboard. "Yeah, how about something stronger tonight though. Do you have any 'Jack'?"

"Yeah, um it's in the cupboard over the sink. I'll grab some coke." After we made our drinks we sat down in the living room waiting for the pizza to come. "Here's to us and having each other." Rose had lifted her glass up for a toast. "To us" I said as the door bell rang.

I got the pizza and sat down turning on the TV. We had just caught the last few seconds of the news. The TV flashed a number across the screen. 'If anyone has any information please contact your local police department.'

"You know Rose, you won't be alone forever, and you will find the right guy for you."

"I wish I had your confidence." She said quietly. "It's just not the right time yet, when it's meant to be it will happen." I tried cheering her up. "Well, I wish he'd hurry up and find me then. Just then the door bell rang for the second time this evening.

I got up to answer it. As I pulled it open I saw Renee and Phil standing there. "Baby, I've missed you." My mom shrieked as she grabbed me for a hug. "Mom, what are you guys doing here? I thought you would call first." I opened the door wider so she and Phil could come in.

"Well we decided to come in a night early and we were driving by on the way to the hotel." Phil hadn't said anything yet. "Do you remember Rosalie?" I said as she cleared away the pizza box from the coffee table. "Yes of course I do, how are you dear?"

"I'm fine, um how have you been Mrs. Dwyer?"

"Wonderful and please call me Renee, and this is my husband Phil." Rosalie shook his hand and said hello. Everyone sat down and the living room. It was slightly uncomfortable especially since Phil hadn't said anything yet.

"Bella, honey I need to use the bathroom, it was a long drive." She walked away and left the rest of us in silence. "So Phil how have you been?" I tried to make some conversation. "Good, and you?" well this will be a short one. "Good." Renee came around the corner a few minutes later. She had something in her hands.

"I hope you don't mind but I saw this in your room." _Great, and so it begins_.

"Is this the new book you've been working on?" _Perfect mom; let's just get it over with_.

"Um yeah, but it's not finished." I said trying to grab the papers back from her. "Still on the same kick huh sweetie. You know, you really should write romance novels, that's where the money is."

"I need a drink." Phil said suddenly standing up and headed for the kitchen. I heard the back door close. And Phil walked back out to us with a glass of water. "Girls, you really shouldn't leave the door hanging open like that. It's really not warm enough nor is it safe."

Rose and I just looked at each other. I knew the door hadn't been open, we were just in there a while ago and neither of us had opened it. She raised her eyebrow at me and I shook my head. Well, I had an idea of who opened it but I was about to say anything now.

"The door wasn't open when I was in there honey, maybe the wind blew it open." My mom said to Phil causing him to tense up immediately. "I shouldn't have to remind you to keep your doors locked Bella, your father being a policeman after all, you should know better."

I didn't have to say anything because Phil immediately announced it was time to go.

They left and Rose turned to me. "Phil's a real winner." She said sarcastically "And what was that about the back door?" "My guess is it was the same little boy." I didn't know if she would be upset or not so I tried to play it off as no big deal. I shrugged. "Is that pretty normal then?" she was curious and slightly nervous but didn't seem too worried.

"Well it's happened before. Usually I get people that either want to get a message across to someone or are just a little lost and need help crossing over." She had a thoughtful look on her face. "What do you think the little boy wants?" _Good question_. "Well, since he isn't talking I don't really know but maybe he's just confused, though I will say the whole dirt pouring from his mouth bothers me quite a bit. Maybe I will call in for a second opinion tomorrow." We both went to bed after that.

I had another nightmare that night. This was a new one though. This time I was in some wooded area and I had fallen into a deep hole. It was clear that someone had dug it. It was perfectly square and was about 5 feet by 5 feet. It was at least 6 feet deep as I couldn't see over the edge.

I heard someone moving around but I couldn't see anything. Then someone was shoveling dirt back into the hole. I was being buried. I woke up then but I couldn't catch my breath, it was like I was being suffocated. I grasped at my throat but I couldn't get any air in. The lights came on and Rosalie was standing in my bedroom doorway. "Are you okay?"

EPOV

"Edward, phone" Alice called from the other room. "Hello?" "Mr. Cullen, this is Jessica Newton I've made an appointment with the inspector for later this afternoon. You are not required to be there but you are welcome if you would like."

"I would like to be there, what time?" I looked at my watch it was just after 9:00am and I didn't have to be at work until late tonight. "2:30pm" "I'll be there, thanks Ms. Newton."

I decided to take a nap since I had just gotten off work a couple hours ago.

"I'm going to work Edward; will you be here for dinner?" Alice asked. "I'll be back by then, the house inspector will be meeting me at 2:30 and that shouldn't take too long."

"Okay, Jasper will be here for dinner too." She grabbed her purse and keys and was out the door. "Have a good day Ali" I called before I went to lie down. I woke up at 2:00 and drove over to the house. _My house_. "Hi, I'm Sam Uley I'm the home inspector. Are you Edward Cullen?"

"Yes, nice to meet you Mr. Uley." I shook his hand. "I'm going to go ahead and get started it will probably be an hour or two. Then I will be able to give you my full report."

"Thank you, I will be around I'm going to check out the area." I said and he went to work. Jessica pulled up then. "Mr. Cullen, glad you could make it, have you met Sam?" she asked looking around.

"Yes, he's already gotten started." She turned and looked towards the house. "I'm going to let Sam know I'm here and I will meet up with you later." She smiled.

I started in the back yard. It was mostly fenced in but near the back corner it looked like some wood had rotted out. It looked like there was a gate there at one time and there was a small opening. I was able to squeeze through. It led to a wooded area. Not quite a forest since we were in a residential area but maybe a small park, there were fir trees and it looked like an overgrown path. I started to follow it but it didn't go anywhere. I decided to head back since I wasn't sure whose property this was.

I met Jessica in front. "Do you know whose property is out behind the fence?" I asked. "I don't think anyone. At one time all this land belonged to the owner of your house. Then they started selling off pieces of it here and there. I think technically the city owns it but there isn't much that can be done with it now. It's not sufficient to build on and I believe that there was a small lake or stream there at one time which is probably why it didn't get sold in the first place."

Sam walked over to us at the point. "Well, everything looks really good; you may want to get the wiring and plumbing re-done. It's not in too bad of shape but it is pretty old and you may run into problems down the line. The fence needs to be repaired but other than that the house is in good shape."

I thanked Sam as he left and Jessica assured me that she could negotiate with the old owners to either pay for the electrical and plumbing or lower the price of the house to cover those costs.

I wasn't about to argue there. I still had some remodeling I wanted to do and I was all for not having to pay for anything I didn't need to.

When I got back to Alice's she and Jasper were just pulling up. "How did it go?" Alice asked as we all walked inside. "Great actually, the only trouble was the wiring and plumbing but Mrs. Newton was pretty sure she could get the old owners to pay for it."

The three of us sat down to dinner. "Alice told me that you were planning to do some of the remodeling on your own?" Jasper asked. "I was thinking about it. I will hire a contractor for the stuff I can't do but I will take on the smaller projects myself."

"If you need any work done on your house Edward I wouldn't mind helping out." Jasper offered. "Thanks Jasper, that's really nice." He really was a cool guy. "Jasper is really good at crown molding. He did my whole house." Alice beamed.

I looked around, it looked great. He obviously knows what he is doing. "Wow, you did a great job on this, I would love to have that done at my house. I'll pay you." I added.

"No payment necessary, that's what friends are for." I nodded in agreement. "We could have everyone over to help out, you know mom would love any excuse to see you Edward and dad and Em could come down. It will be some much fun."

Jessica got the details of the sale worked out and I was now a home owner. The first thing I did was have the electrician and plumber out. I wanted to get that out of the way. At the same time I hired a contractor for a few jobs. It was an older home with only one bathroom. And with the closet in my room practically as big as the bedroom, I decided to add a bathroom there and I still had a good sized closet. I also had the contractor refinish the hardwood floors. The rest I would do on my own.

I had a pretty hectic schedule for the next couple weeks but then it calmed down and I actually had a full weekend off. It was actually a 3 day weekend so everyone decided that that would be a good time to do some of the smaller projects and get everything moved in.

The contractor was finished with the re-wiring and the plumbing as well as most of the new bathroom. And I was ready to move into my new house. Mom, Dad and Em drove out Thursday after work and got into town around 8:00pm we all went out to dinner and went to bed after that.

Friday morning we started early. We got to the house and got right to work. Jasper got started on the molding with dad. Emmett was outside fixing the fence. Alice and Esme were painting. And I was replacing a couple of door knobs. I started on the one in the coat closet.

I unscrewed the screws to take off the old door knob; I put the screwdriver down while I put the new knob on. I reached back over for my screwdriver but it wasn't there. I felt around but with no luck. I stood up and looked around. "Dad, did you take the screwdriver?" he was in the next room.

"No" _hmmm_. "Are you sure?" _where did it go?_ "Yes Edward, I'm pretty sure I'm not senile yet." I laughed at him and went to get another one. I got back to my closet and went to work again. I sat cross-legged and set my new screwdriver down in-between my legs so I wouldn't misplace this one. I was having trouble getting the new door knob in but I finally got it. I reached down to get the screwdriver again only to find two of them. _Maybe I'm the one going senile_.

We all were working hard for the next few hours and decided on a break. Alice and mom went to pick sub sandwiches for us. "I think I could eat 10 of these I'm so hungry." Emmett said as he went to grab a sandwich. "I know this is hard work, but we're making a lot of progress." Dad agreed with him.

Our goal was to get all the painting done today so we could get the furniture moved in as soon as possible. I still planned on a lot of work in the kitchen but I could take my time with that. After sitting around for a while it was time to go back to work. "Oh no" I heard Alice from upstairs.

"What's up Ali?" I went upstairs to check it out. There was a whole can of paint spilled out across the floor. "We weren't even in this room yet." She said not looking at me.

"Its okay, the tarps were already down, it didn't get on the floor." I told her, she looked really upset by it.

We cleaned it up and it was no big deal really, more of a pain in the ass. We got finished with what we could and everyone was ready to be done for the day. "Let's get cleaned up and head out to dinner. What does everyone feel like?" The vote was 4 to 2 in favor of Chinese food.

I locked up and on my way back to Ali's I stopped off to get more paint for the guest room. We all crashed early again and didn't get up quite so early the next day.

The guys moved all the furniture in while the girls cleaned the whole house. I got a jump start on the kitchen but I wasn't in a hurry. I could take time on it.

The rest of the weekend went off without a hitch. Sunday Mom, Dad, and Em drove home and it was the first night I was going to spend in my new home. Monday I went back to work and I had another grueling schedule for the next two weeks but I was rewarded with 4 days off in a row after that.

I had been so tired from working so much I was looking forward to doing nothing for a couple days. Alice and Jasper were planning on coming over that night. We had take out again. I still wasn't quite finished in the kitchen and didn't really feel like cooking. We were all sitting in the living room when Alice sat up straight. "Did you hear that?"

I hadn't heard a thing. And neither did Jasper. "What did you hear Alice?" she looked perplexed. "I don't know, it sounded like the toilet flushing." We dismissed it at that point while we continued to eat until she heard it again. "You guys didn't hear that?"

"No Ali, but I'll go check it out."

I went upstairs and checked both bathrooms. I didn't find anything so I came back downstairs. "Everything seemed fine but I'll call the contractor in the morning, maybe they didn't get it installed correctly. I'll just have them send someone back out."

I made the call in the morning and someone was out by that afternoon. "I've checked everything Mr. Cullen, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with either of them."

I sighed, as long as it was taken care of and I wouldn't need to call them back out.

"Thanks for coming out." I said as I walked him to the door.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight

Chapter 4

EPOV

After he left I decided to do get some work done around the house. I got tired of working on the kitchen and moved out to the yard. It as a pretty nice day and I thought I should take advantage of it.

Near the porch was a half dead something, bush or tree, whatever you want to call it. I was more of a lawn type of guy and didn't know much about these things. Either way it needed to come out. I started digging. I had most of it done when my shovel hit something hard.

After a while I managed to get the bush out of the way and I found a small metal box. It was the size of a shoe box. I opened it up and there was a Barbie doll, crayons, and some drawings. They were pretty standard pictures I would imagine, at least the first few. Most of them had a house, sun, and a stick figured family.

As I sifted through them I noticed that they seemed to get a little creepier. The sun was gone and there were a pair of eyes peering out the windows. Sometimes they were red and sometimes they were black. The family now had frowns on their faces instead of smiles. The name Melissa was written on the back but that was it. I put them back in the box and took it inside.

I took a shower and fixed some dinner. After I finished my macaroni and cheese I turned off the lights and headed up for bed. It was still pretty early but I was exhausted. I turned on the lamp next to my bed and grabbed my book.

I had only been reading for about 20 minutes when the light started flickering on and off.

It stayed that way for about 10 minutes before it suddenly became dark for good. I realized the power must be out or maybe the bulb burnt out but I was too tired to get up and try another light. I turned over and went to bed.

I could vaguely hear my name being called. "Edward" it was getting louder. Finally with a knock on my bedroom door I realized it was Alice. "Edward" she slowly opened the door. "Come on in Alice." I mumbled still half asleep.

"What's up with the lights?" she asked. The only thing I could think of was the power outage last night. "Oh did your power go out too?" she looked at me confused.

"No, I meant why were all your lights on?"

"What do you mean?" I asked not getting it. "When I got here every single light in your house was on."

"Are you serious?" I asked. "Yeah, well all of them expect your bedroom but every other one was on, even the TV downstairs."

"I have no idea Ali, they weren't on when I went to bed, in fact I was just reading in bed last night when the light started flickering before it went out. I Just assumed it was the power." I got out of bed.

"Do you think maybe there was a power surge or something maybe that caused the lights to all go on last night?" I was trying to make sense of it, still partly asleep.

"I wouldn't think so Edward, I mean wouldn't the switches at least have to be on for that to happen?" she asked as we were walking down the stairs.

"Great, now I have to have the electrician back out here." That pissed me off.

"Anyway, I stopped by to drop off your belated housewarming gifts." She made her way over to the dining room table.

"Every new house needs a plant and mom brought these up with her when they came up, I forgot to give them to you sooner." She had three small figurines. I knew right away they were from my gramma. Two boys and one girl. They were supposed to represent the 3 of us. They were all kneeling as if they were praying with a cross behind them with a birthstone in each one.

"I know gramma wanted you to have these, I remembered how much you liked them as a kid." She smiled. "Yeah I remember how you used to try and put yours in the middle all the time." I said. I set them up on one of the shelves in the dinning room with mine in the middle, just like it is suppose to be.

"Thanks Alice." I gave her a hug. "You're welcome, tell Jasper to call me later." She said as she was walking out the door. "Okay"

Jasper was coming over today, we were just going to hang out and play video games. Alice was going to some sort of fashion seminar or something at the college.

I made myself a bowl of cereal and sat on the couch. Before I could turn the TV on I heard a strange sound. It sounded like a faint meow. I listened a little more and I could still hear it. I opened the front door but didn't see anything but I heard it louder than before.

I looked over the side of the porch only to see a little tail sticking out of the hole I dug yesterday while removing the bush. I went around the side and lifted the kitten out. It was cute. White and black with blue eyes. I set it down in the yard as I quickly filled the hole back in that I neglected yesterday.

As I made my way back up the stairs, kitty followed me. It tried to rush in but I got it before it got too far. I didn't know who it belonged to and so I put it back on the porch and closed the door. The meowing continued non-stop for the next hour. Even though I knew better I got a bowl of water and some turkey that I had in the fridge and put it outside.

Half an hour later there was a knock at my door. "Looks like you have yourself a friend." Jasper laughed pointing to kitty who was curled up on my door mat. "I know, I'm hoping it will make its way home soon."

"I can tell by the food and water you left out." He laughed again. We hung out for the rest of the day playing x-box, eating, and drinking beer. We were becoming really good friends. After a couple hours we turned of the x-box and turned on a football game.

We were only half paying attention to it since we were mostly talking but the TV turned off_. Stupid electrician_ I mumbled as I turned it back on. "What was that?" Jasper asked.

"Oh the power went off last night and then this morning when Alice came over she said all the lights were on. I'm going to have to call the electrician. He must have messed something up."

I knew there wasn't much chance of getting anyone out here today since it was the weekend but I still called. The receptionist said that she couldn't get anyone out until Monday. I knew that would be the case but I had to work my new 10 hour shift. "Monday huh? I work long days Monday through Thursday; do you have anything open next Friday?" I asked.

She was checking her schedule when Jasper said that he thought Alice had Monday off or at least was working from home that day and she could probably come over and wait for him then. I was about to decline and just wait until Friday but then receptionist came back saying they were booked all week except for Monday between 10:30am and 12:30. I decided to schedule the appointment. I could always change it if Alice didn't want to stay.

BPOV

As the lights came on I was able to take in a deep breath. "Are you okay?" Rosalie looked worried. I nodded my head, still not able to speak yet. "What happened?" she asked.

"Nightmare" I blurted out. She came over and sat on the edge of my bed. 'Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.

"Not right now, tomorrow." We both went back to bed. Though I didn't fall asleep again.

The next morning when I got up Rose was getting ready for work. "Good morning" I said as she was coming out of the bathroom. "Morning" she sounded sad. "Are you okay? Do you want me to meet you for lunch?" I asked hoping to make today a little easier for her.

"No, I'll be fine. I think I am just going to bring my lunch today and try and get off work early. Oh and I still want to hear about your dream." She told me as she was getting ready to head out. "I'll tell you about it when you get back. I'll make dinner tonight, is there anything special you want?"

"Anything is fine with me." she smiled. "I will say living with you is already better than living with Royce, even with your uninvited guests."

"See you later" I called as she left. Shortly after that the phone rang. "Hello?"

"Miss Swan, this is Dean Richards I was wondering if you could do me a favor?"

"What can I help you with?" I asked. "Well I know you aren't scheduled to start your lectures for another few weeks but one of our other paranormal lecturers had to cancel for this Saturday. I know its short notice but do you think that you can fill in?"

"Sure, what time?" "It's at noon in the regular classroom. Thanks for your help Miss Swan." My mind kept going back to the dream I had last night, it was so real, I really felt like I was choking. This was a new experience for me. I decided to call Leah just to talk it over with her."

"Hello?" Jake answered. "Hey Jake." "Bells, what's up?" he was always in a good mood.

"Well, I was hoping to talk to Leah …." I trailed off. "I'm hurt! What's wrong with talking to me?" he joked.

"Nothing's wrong with talking to you but unfortunately you can't help me." he was quiet for a minute. "Sure Sure, Leah's left for work already, are you sure there isn't anything I can do?" I think he wanted to be included.

"Well, how about you two come over for dinner Saturday, and I will explain everything then." "Perfect" that seemed to appease him.

I woke up Saturday morning grateful for not having any dreams. "Are you ready?" Rose called from the living room. "Ready? Well I'm ready for my lecture, what are you ready for?"

"Oh come on, I'm going too. I haven't been to one of you lectures in a long time. I promise I will stay in the back and not say anything." She said as she grabbed her purse.

"Fine with me, but I'm sure you will just get bored, I don't think its anything you haven't heard before."

"I just really want to get out of the house today, I'm afraid Royce will stop by and I don't want to be alone with him. He has this persuasive ability and since he called last night asking me to come back to him I'd really rather just avoid him."

"What? He called you last night?" I asked as we got into the car. "Yeah, it was after you went to bed. He said he was sorry and he wants me back." Whoa. "What did you say?"

"Well I told him that I didn't want him back anymore and to leave me alone. But then he went into the whole I love you bit and said he wasn't going to take no for an answer."

"What an ass." I said pulling into my parking spot. "Yep." We walked into the classroom and I got things set up. Apparently it was going to be a full class today. People started filing in and many had to stand. Rose took her place in the back by the door.

APOV

I was really looking forward to this. It was a non-credit class just for 4 Saturday s but it was being taught by my favorite designer. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to talk with her.

I was a little early but I made my way over to the class room. It was still locked but I noticed the classroom across the hall was really full. I walked over to the door just out of curiosity. I tried to peek inside but I couldn't see anything.

"I can move over, if you want to come in." I looked up to see a tall, blonde, really pretty woman smiling at me. "Oh, that's okay. I was just waiting for my class to start and saw everyone. I was just curious to see what this class was." I told her.

"I'm Rosalie" she said extending her hand. "This is a class on the paranormal."

"I'm Alice" I said shaking her hand. "Wow paranormal that sounds interesting." I was being honest. I didn't know much about it but like everyone else had seen things on TV.

"It is, my best friend Bella, is the teacher. She really knows her stuff." She smiled. "Does she do this regularly or is it a one time thing?" I asked.

"Well she is just filling in for today, but she is going to start her regular lectures in a few weeks. Her name is Isabella Swan if you're interested. The class should be listed in the school catalog."

"Thanks" I said as I saw my class room had opened up. "I better go" pointing to my class. "It was nice meeting you." I told her. "You too" she smiled before turning back to the lecture.

Jasper came over later that night. "Did you have fun with Edward?" I asked after giving him a kiss. "Yeah, I did. He's a cool guy. I really like him." I smiled. "I'm glad to hear that. So, what did you guys do?"

"Guy stuff. Oh but before I forget while I was there he called the electrician and apparently they were pretty booked up all week except for Monday. Anyway I kind of volunteered you to wait for him at Edwards for a few hours." He said sheepishly

"You're lucky I love you so much or I might have been mad." "That does make me pretty lucky then. Edward said he would call you later to ask but he also said if you were too busy he would just reschedule."

"No it's fine. I'm working from home that day anyway. I can just as easily do it from Edwards"

* * *

I got the call from Edward on Sunday. "Hey Ali I have a favor to ask." "Jasper already told me. Monday works for me, what time do you need me there?"

"Thanks Alice, I really appreciate this. They said he would get there sometime between 10:30 and 12:30pm. Oh and I should probably warn you about Emmett." _Huh?_

"What about Emmett? Is he okay?"

"Um, Emmett is my new kitten that I have seemingly adopted. I didn't mean for it to happen but I fed it yesterday and she hasn't left yet. She managed to sneak in and likes to hide from me and is in here somewhere so I thought I should let you know about it."

I couldn't help laughing. "You named your new kitten Emmett?" still laughing. "Uh, yeah?" He said it like a question. "And it's a girl cat?"

"Well, in my defense I didn't check that part out until I already had named her."

"Okay, okay but why Emmett, don't we already have one of those?"

"I miss him Ali. I wish he would move here too." We were all very close and I knew how much he missed him.

"Well we'll just have to keep working on him. I'm sure he misses us too. But I can't wait to hear his reaction to having to share a name with a girl kitten."

I pulled up to Edwards about 10:00. Just in case this guy showed up early. I let myself in and saw Emmett right away sleeping on the couch. "So you're Emmett" I said as I pet her. She moved over to sit in my lap.

About 15 minutes later out of no where Emmett jumped off me and started hissing. She wasn't facing me but she was facing the staircase. Her back was arched and her fur was all puffed out. "What's wrong Emmett?" I walked closer to her. She was still hissing and didn't take her eyes off the stairs.

I heard it then. It sounded like splashing, like someone was taking a bath. WTF? Was Edward still home? I slowly made my way up the stairs and the splashing got louder. I was seriously freaked out now. I got to the top of the stairs and I could tell it was coming from Edward's bathroom instead of the main one.

"Edward?" please be Edward. My heart was pounding as I moved closer to his bathroom. The door was open but the shower curtain was closed. "Edward?" I was now in his bathroom and so was the splashing. I took a deep breath and pulled the shower curtain back.

It was empty. And the splashing sound stopped. Just then the doorbell rang and I screamed. I ran downstairs as fast as I could. The electrician was there. I let him in and tried to catch my breath out on the porch.

He was there for about 45 minutes. In that time I had got all my stuff together and put everything out in the car. He told me that he checked everything out and that he couldn't find anything wrong. I was beginning to think that the something wrong had nothing to do with the wiring.

I thanked him, locked up, and drove home still shaking.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight

Chapter 5

EPOV

As I pulled into the driveway I noticed the lights were off but the front porch light was on. Alice must have left it on for me. I grabbed my Taco Bell bag and headed inside.

I hit the play button on my answering machine. "Hey little brother, give me a call when you get this." Emmett sounded like he was in a pretty good mood.

"Uh Edward, can you call me when you get in, I wanted to talk to you about this morning. Love you" Alice's voice sounded a little strained. I hope that everything went okay this morning.

I called Alice first. "Hey man, how's it going?" I said when Jasper answered. "Good, what's up?"

"I was just checking to see how this morning went."

"Oh, I don't know, Alice had a headache and she went to bed early."

"That's too bad, I guess just have her call me when she can. Tell her I hope she feels better."

"I will, talk to ya later."

I was about to call Emmett when the phone rang. "Hello?" "Why haven't you called me back yet?" Emmett joked, obviously still in his good mood.

"I just walked in the door. What are you so impatient about?"

"I have some business in Seattle and I'll be there tomorrow." "That's great Em, what time?"

"I'll probably get in around 8:00pm or so." "I'll be home by then, how long do you get to stay?"

"I'll be there two nights. I have to head back Thursday morning. Oh, and by the way, I'm looking forward to meeting my nemesis."

"Nemesis? She is not your nemesis, she's your namesake. You should feel honored." I said laughing. "Honored that you have replaced me so quickly? I don't think so." He joked.

"Either way I'm changing her name." He continued. "No way, she already answers to Emmett so it wouldn't do you any good."

"yeah well, we'll see about that. See you tomorrow little bro." "See you tomorrow." And he hung up.

After I finished eating I headed upstairs to bed. I heard Emmett meow as she followed me into my bedroom. She hesitated at the door for a few minutes but quickly jumped on my bed as I climbed in and she dove under the covers curling up next to me.

BPOV

The day passed quickly and I was almost finished with dinner when I heard Rosalie "I'll get it." I didn't even hear the doorbell. Leah walked into the kitchen. "Can I help?" she asked.

"Hey Leah! I haven't seen you in so long." I said as I walked over and gave her a hug. "I know, and I'm sorry. It's just that I'm so tired all the time and my feet are so swollen I would rather being lying down then anything else."

"You are 8 months pregnant after all, so I'd say that's a pretty good excuse." She chuckled. Everyone sat down at the table as I served dinner. "This is great Bells." Jake mumbled since his mouth was full.

We were almost finished eating when Leah gasped loudly. We all turned our heads to look at her.

"What is it honey?" Jake asked his wife. "Just give me a minute." And she closed her eyes. Leah's ability is Clairsentience. She has the ability to feel the energy around her instead of seeing it like I do. She can tell what a person is feeling by actually experiencing the feeling herself.

After a minute she opened her eyes again. "Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?"

She asked of course already knowing. "Yeah." Rosalie stood up and started to clear the table. Jake offered to help her as Leah and I went into the living room.

"Are you okay?" I asked Leah as tears started down her face. "I'll be fine; I just haven't experienced this level of emotion in a while." She chuckled. "Even with being pregnant."

Jake and Rose joined us in the living room and Jake started to rub Leah's feet. She smiled at him before turning to me. "Tell me what's been going on."

"I have been seeing the boy for weeks now. He shows up wherever I am not saying anything or trying to communicate. It wasn't until very recently that did he change his behavior."

I paused as Leah closed her eyes again. "He followed me into the bathroom at The Taco House when I saw him in the mirror. As he opened his mouth to talk to me a ton of dirt poured from his mouth and piled onto the floor." Jake gasped at that but I didn't think he was completely shocked as his wife often had experiences too.

"The other day he left hand prints on the bathroom mirror and he managed to open the back door. He still hasn't managed to speak to me yet though."

"Well, from what I am getting he is extremely scared. He is confused and isn't sure what to do. He is trying to get your attention." Leah gave her impressions.

"Well he has done that. But I'm still not sure what it is he wants." I was still hoping she could get a read on it.

"His fear is over powering almost all other emotions. I can't tell what he is after for sure but it is pretty clear to me he wants your help."

She closed her eyes again. "He's here now but he is uncertain of me so he is keeping his distance. The part I'm a little confused on is that he has been like this for a long time now."

"What do you mean a long time? How long?" Rose asked. "I'm not sure but I get the sense that whatever happened to him happened years ago 10 or 20 possibly but he has only come forward now. There has to be a reason for that."

Her eyes opened again. "He's gone for now." Jake visibly relaxed. "My guess is that he'll be back and start getting a little more 'in your face' for lack of a better term with you until he can find a way to get his point across. I also was getting a sense of urgency so I think things will get more intense for a while."

After that, the conversation lightened as we talked about regular things. "Thanks for your help Leah." I said as they were getting ready to leave. "You're welcome honey. Let me know about anymore occurrences and maybe we can come up with something. I'm also going to call Billy and see if he has any insight."

Monday I gave Rose my final draft of my newly completed book. I was glad to be done with it for obvious reasons but I also wanted more time to try and figure out what was going on with this situation.

As the phone rang I looked at the caller id. "Hi Billy, how are you?" "I'm doing better than you are apparently." He chuckled. "I guess you talked to Leah?"

"You guessed right. I had a thought. Maybe it would be worth a try to do some research on this, you know check old newspaper articles things like that maybe if you can uncover some information about this boys life it will help you figure out what it is he is after."

"That's not a bad idea, thanks Billy; I'm going to head down to the library now." "Anytime Bells, you know that."

I was getting excited. Of course I had no idea where to begin but I had to do something and maybe if I was lucky I would run across some information. I think it is pretty clear now that something happened to that boy at some point. I just needed to figure out what it was and why he wants me to know about it.

As I pulled into the driveway I saw that Rose was already home. I walked in the door and could smell dinner. "Sorry I'm so late, I lost track of time." I was tired and defeated.

"Bella, I don't expect you to be waiting for me when I get off of work. And I don't mind making dinner either." She looked over at me slouched in the chair. "What's wrong?" she asked as she turned her attention back to the stove.

"Nothing, I was just really hoping to find something out today." I mumbled. "You only just started this and you have no idea when or what you are looking for. It's going to take some time." I knew she was right but I still couldn't help feeling upset.

Later that night my nightmares returned. This time when I was in the hole in woods I wasn't alone. I looked up to see the little boy staring down at me and when I reached up for him I was suddenly aware that it was night. I heard heavy breathing coming from next to me and as I looked over I saw the same pair of frightened green eyes I had seen in another dream.

I woke up to find my pillow drenched in sweat and my clock read 3:15am.

EPOV

Beep beep beep beep

I hit the snooze button again. I laid in bed as long as I could before having to get up for work. As I arrived at the hospital I texted Alice to let her know that Emmett would be here tonight.

About an hour later I got one back from her saying she and Jasper would be over later tonight. Unexpectedly the day flew by. Before I knew it was time to go home. I stopped off at the grocery store knowing how much Emmett eats and walked in my house about 6:30 and put the groceries away.

I made some dinner. Nothing too fancy I just heated up some chili. I was putting my bowl in the sink when the doorbell rang.

It was Alice and Jasper. "Hey guys, come on in." I stepped to the side and opened the door wider. Jasper came right in and sat down but I noticed Alice was a little more apprehensive.

"Are you okay Ali?" I asked wondering if maybe she was still sick. "I'm fine, Edward." She didn't look too convincing. We joined Jasper on the couch. "I wanted to talk to you about Monday morning." Alice said eyeing the staircase.

"Oh yeah, what did the electrician say? He must have fixed the problem because I haven't had any trouble since then."

Her face paled slightly and I felt her forehead just in case. "Um actually he checked everything and said there wasn't any problem that he could find." She said as she swatted my hand away. "Oh, well that's good then; it must have just been some sort of fluke."

"I don't think it was Edward." She whispered. I was about to ask her what she meant by that when there was a pounding on the door. I got up to answer it. "Hey bro" Emmett walked in. "Ali" he said giving her a hug. "Emmett, I'm so glad you're here." she said. "Nice to see you again" he said holding his hand out to Jasper. "You too." Jasper replied shaking his hand.

I noticed Alice kept unusually quiet for the rest of the night. It was starting to get late and I had to work in the morning along with everyone else. Alice and Jasper got up to leave when Alice pulled me aside.

"I'm coming over again tomorrow night, I really need to talk to you about something okay?" she had an intense look on her face. "Sure Ali, I'm always here to listen to you." I reminded her as I gave her a hug.

As soon as she and Jasper left I turned to Emmett. "Here is a key for the house. I have to work early in the morning but I should be home around 5:30 or 6."

He took the key. "Thanks, I have a meeting at nine and I'll be back before you."

"What kind of meeting is it?" I asked curious. "Oh you know, they were having some trouble with the Seattle office and needed someone to check up on it. And I was the lucky one who got elected to do it."

"I've got to get to bed but there's food in the kitchen, help yourself and you know where the guest room is right?" I asked

"Yep, see you tomorrow." He said as I walked up the stairs. "Goodnight Em. I'm glad you're here."

When I woke up I showered and got dressed for work. I opted for a pop-tart for breakfast not really being that hungry. For the second time this week, my day went by extremely fast.

I got home to find Emmett on the couch watching TV with little Emmett on his lap.

"I see she has won you over." I chuckled at him. He looked up looking surprised he must not have heard me come in.

"Well, she is hard to resist." He said as he started to pet her. "Isn't that right Emma."

"Emma?"

"Well, it's close enough that she wont notice and besides wont it get confusing with two of us around?" he asked with a huge smirk on his face.

"Last time I checked you lived in another city, it's not like I'll get that confused."

"Well, would you change your mind if I told you that I will be around a lot more?" he hedged.

I raised my eyebrow suspiciously at him. "I didn't want to say anything until it was official, _but_ there was an unexpected opening at the Seattle branch and I put in for it.

That's what the meeting was about today, I came to check things out."

"Seriously?" I all but yelled. "Yep, the job is mine if I want it." He smiled.

"You're taking it right?"

"Of course but on two conditions…… one, her name is now Emma and two, you have to tell mom."

Alice knocked on the door before slowly opening it. "What's going on? I could hear you from the street."

"Emmett is transferring to Seattle." I couldn't help smiling. "Emmett, that's great! When do you move?" I turned my attention to him. "They have to fill my position in Spokane first so I don't have a date yet."

The three of us went out to dinner. Jasper got stuck working late so he couldn't join us. When we got back to my house, we walked into the living room to find the TV on.

"I could have swore I turned it off." I said mostly to myself.

I noticed that Alice tensed at that moment. "Edward, I need to talk to you about the other day." She looked worried.

"What's wrong Ali?" she turned the TV off as the three of us sat down. She took a deep breath.

"I'm not really sure how to say this but, I think there is something strange going on here."

Emmett laughed. "Well Edward is a little strange."

"I'm serious, when I came over the other day I was sitting on the couch with Emmett in my lap."

"Emma" Emmett corrected. We both ignored him.

"Out of no where she jumped off my lap and sat in front of the stairs hissing and her fur got all fluffed out. I went over to see what was wrong and I heard splashing like someone was taking a bath."

We listened intently as Alice continued. She wasn't the type of person to make stuff up.

I went to check it out and as I walked up the stairs it kept getting louder. It came from your bathroom Edward. When I walked in the shower curtain was closed but the splashing was really loud." She paused again. "When I pulled back the curtain the tub was empty and the noises stopped abruptly."

She was looking between me and Emmett cautiously. "What are you saying Alice?" Emmett asked. "I'm not sure but it was just really freaky."

I was trying to comprehend what she had said. "Are you sure that's what you heard? I mean, could it have been from outside?" I asked.

"I knew you wouldn't believe me." she looked sad. "No Alice, of course I believe you, I'm just trying to figure this out. I just think we should go over all the possibilities." I hoped she wouldn't be mad.

"It is an old house Alice, they make strange noises sometimes." Emmett offered.

"Strange noises yes, but splashing? That isn't just any noise Emmett and what about the lights and the toilet flushing?" she wasn't angry or rude she really seemed concerned.

"What toilet flushing and what lights?" Emmett asked looking equally concerned now.

Alice explained about the lights and how she heard the toilet flushing a few days before.

We all sat back in our seats silently contemplating the whole thing. "Well, everything seems okay now; maybe it was just some weird fluke." Emmett said.

As if on cue we heard something that sounded like walking upstairs. All of us looked up at the same time when we heard the sounds of the floorboards creak.

"What the hell is that? Emmett was out of his seat and on his way to the stairs. I quickly followed him and I felt Alice right behind me grabbing my arm. The sounds continued as the three of us made it to the top of the stairs. We looked all around but couldn't see anything but we could still hear it.

"Okay that was weird." I admitted as we went back downstairs. Alice still hadn't let go of me. We tried again to come up with a logical explanation but in the end deciding that maybe there wasn't one and to just go on as normal and see if anything else happens.

"I'm not sure what exactly is going on here but maybe we should just chalk it up to something unexplainable and forget about it for now."

"Edward, I wouldn't take this so lightly." Alice said. "I don't know what else to do, there isn't anything I can do about it and while it is odd, nothing really bad has happened."

Alice took a deep breath. "I'm worried Edward, I don't like you being here alone."

"I'll be fine, it's my house and like I said nothing bad has happened. It's just a little freaky but maybe it will just go away or something."

"He's right Alice; there isn't anything we can do about it." Emmett told her.

"Fine, but your welcome at my house anytime Edward, you know that right?"

"Yes, thank you Alice. I love you" I told her as she was heading for the door. "I love you too, call me tomorrow please and Emmett keep me updated on your move. I'm really happy you're coming." She hugged us both goodbye and left.

Emmett and I played some video games and talked about his upcoming move. After a few more hours it was time for bed. I couldn't fall asleep right away as I kept thinking about the recent events.

I couldn't be happier having Em move here. I never thought it would be this soon. I was deep in thought when I felt something on the bed. I jumped a little but quickly relaxed as Emmett; I mean Emma crawled under the covers.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight

Chapter 6

EPOV

I was exhausted. It has been almost 3 weeks since Emmett went back home, 3 weeks and things at the house were getting worse. At first it didn't start off too bad. I would find things missing or moved.

I thought it was Alice when I saw that 'our' figurines from gramma were always re-arranged. She told me that it wasn't her. Of course it wasn't but I was trying very hard to find any rational explanation I could.

The cabinets in the kitchen were often open when I would get home from work. The lights were flickering on and off again.

But then without warning it would stop, sometimes for days at a time. It didn't seem to have any rhyme or reason to it. Alice and Jasper still came over but I could tell it upset Alice. I knew she was worried about me and I was glad that things were mostly quiet when she was around.

Nighttime was the most 'active' time. The newest disturbance was the piano. It would wake me at all times of the night. It was by far the thing that bothered me the most. Sometimes it would be a real song and other times it was as if someone was just banging on the keys.

I stopped playing it and kept the cover down but that didn't seem to matter. I kept telling myself that this wasn't anything threatening so I could just deal with it, but I couldn't get any peace.

I found myself working longer than necessary and taking extra shifts just so I wouldn't have to go home. I fell asleep in the break room more often than not.

I was startled awake by the sound of my phone. "This is getting ridiculous" I said aloud to myself as I pulled it out of my pocket.

"Em, what's up?" I asked yawning.

"Edward, guess what? They've found my replacement, I'm moving up next weekend."

"That's great, I'll fly up Thursday after work and we can drive back together." I told him.

"I was hoping you'd say that. Not to mention it might take some of the pressure off me if you're here to distract mom." He chuckled.

"So do you want to just put your stuff in the basement then instead of storage? There's more than enough room." I asked.

"If that's okay, I can get to the stuff easier if I need anything. It's okay that I'm staying with you right?" he questioned but of course it wasn't necessary.

"Of course it is, though you might want to stay at Alice's, it might be a little more relaxing." We hadn't really talked about anything that had happened. He asked a few times but I just wanted to ignore it for a while. _Like that was possible._

"I think I can handle a few ghosts." He tried to joke but I couldn't bring myself to reply.

"Are you okay Edward?" he asked much more seriously now. "Alice is really worried about you."

"I'm fine, just a little tired." I heard myself being paged so I quickly got off the phone and went back to work.

Thursday was here before I knew it and my plane was arriving at the Spokane airport. Of course Mom insisted on picking me up. I tried not to give her too bad a time. I knew how hard it was for her especially now with Emmett leaving too.

We ended up staying there for a few days. As it turned out Emmett wasn't done packing yet so we weren't driving back until Sunday, which I was extremely grateful for. It was the first decent night's sleep I had in a long time.

I had called Jasper and asked him to make sure that Emma had enough food and water. Sunday morning I let Alice know we were on our way before we pulled onto the highway.

This time I drove Emmett's car and he drove the Uhaul. That is one thing I didn't want to experience again. When we pulled into the driveway I noticed Alice's car. We walked in the front door.

"Surprise" Alice yelled. She had decorated the living room and had a buffet of food on the dinning room table.

"Welcome home Emmett" she cheered as she ran to him hugging him tightly. After we ate we started to unload. I was glad that Jasper was there. It made the whole thing go a lot faster.

"Hey Edward, what's this?" Alice asked when we were unloading that last of Emmett's things into the basement. She found the metal box I had dug up weeks ago.

"I forgot about that actually. I found it buried near the front porch when I was working in the yard." I explained.

"What's in it?" she asked as she tried to open it. "Just some stuff from one of the kids that used to live here I guess." I reached for the box trying to act casually. I didn't want to upset her anymore than she already was.

She moved it away from me quickly as she got it open. She gasped and brought her hand up to cover her mouth when she saw the pictures.

Emmett and Jasper came to her side and peered at the drawings. "That's…..unsettling." Jasper said. "How old do you think this stuff is?" he asked.

"I don't know, it could be from the last owners or maybe from before that. It's kind of hard to tell." Alice paused. "You know Edward, maybe you should try and contact the previous owners and see if they have anything to say about this."

"Hmmmm" was my only response. "It's not a bad idea Edward, maybe they experienced this too." Jasper said.

"Well clearly someone did, just look at the pictures." Emmett was practically whispering.

The next few days passed without incident. I just hoped it would continue. I was in such a good mood. Emmett was finally here and Alice was more comfortable being here. Things finally seemed normal again. _At least for now_. I sighed quietly.

The following week it started up again. This time I was awoken by pounding on the walls. _I knew couldn't last_.

"What do you want Edward?" I could hear Emmett yell. I was about to answer when my bedroom door flung open.

"Em?" I sat up and looked over to the door but no one was there. My heart was pounding in my chest. As the pounding in the walls continued I heard Emmett get up and come into my room.

"What the hell Edward?" I couldn't say anything, I couldn't move. As he looked at me his face suddenly became void of any expression.

"That wasn't you." He stated as if he just figured it out. He sat down on the edge of my bed as I shook my head. Neither of us said another word as he took an extra blanket from my bed and went to the recliner in my room before going back to sleep.

BPOV

I was getting frustrated. It had been nearly three weeks since I began my search and I hadn't found anything concrete yet. Either the articles were too vague or there were too many similar cases that I had no idea which was his. It wasn't helping that I didn't have a name or a time frame or even a location to go off of but I kept trying.

My dreams continued and the little boy made a few appearances. I tried talking to him letting him know I knew he needed help hoping that would get him to talk.

It didn't seem to help though, he still didn't talk to me and so there wasn't much for me to do. I kept my search up but I also had to start getting my lectures prepared. I was about to start a regular schedule at the college.

Rose came home early from work and she had the paper with her. I noticed a few apartment listings were circled. "Looking for a place?" I questioned.

"Yeah, I can't keep taking advantage of you like this. It's been a while I need to find a place of my own." Rose said looking out the window.

"You know I don't mind having you here, and you're not taking advantage. You're my best friend."

"Thanks Bell, and I love being here but I realized that I have been using you. It's been so long that I have lived on my own. I had been living with Royce almost 3 years and you before that. I think I've just been a little nervous being on my own again."

"Instead of getting an apartment why don't you stay here for a while longer and maybe look into buying your own house. I know you had wanted to do that before you moved in with Royce."

"Huh" she stared of into space. "You're right, there's no reason I shouldn't be able to do that now. Do you want to help me look?"

"I start working this week. So how about Sunday we drive around the area and look at open houses?"

"Thanks Bella." she gave me a hug. "What's your class schedule for this semester?"

"I have Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday classes for now."

"That doesn't sound too bad." She said turning on the TV. "Ugh I'm so sick of the news, there's never anything good." She sighed and she was about to change the channel.

"Hold on a sec." I recognized Angela Weber. She was one of the Detectives at the police station that I worked with a couple times over the years.

"_Do you know who it is or how they died?_" a reporter asked. _"All I can say is that it was a young boy approximately six to eight years old."_ _"Where did you find the body?_" a different reporter asked. _"We are not at liberty to discuss that at this time, but we will release further information as the investigation continues."_

"Bells?" I heard Rosalie call my name as my eyes were now focused on the little boy standing next to the TV. As soon as I spoke he disappeared. "I'm fine." She didn't say anything after that.

"I think I'm going to make a trip down to the police station tomorrow." I told Rose as I finally looked over to her.

"Are you sure about that? I thought after last time you said you weren't going to do it anymore."

"I know, but I was so angry after the crap some of the detectives gave me, but Detective Weber was always nice and I think she appreciated my help on the last case. They were able to find that guy after all."

"True……..Do you think the two are connected then? The little boy and the body they found?"

"It's worth a shot and I have to help if I can. And even if it isn't maybe they have an old case file on him. I have to do something."

The next morning I drove down to the police station. "Detective Weber please." I asked at the front desk. "One moment."

A few minutes later she walked out to meet me. "Miss Swan, please come in." we walked back to her office and she shut the door.

"What can I do for you?" She smiled. "I was wondering if you could help me with some information on the boy whose body you found? Or should I say I'm hoping we can help each other."

"Go on." She sat up straight and grabbed a pencil. "I have no idea if the two things are related or not but I have been visited by a spirit of a little boy recently and I thought that maybe it was the same one that you found."

"I know you're not supposed to give me any information but it's possible that they are the same or even maybe from another case?"

"You know I can't give out any details while we are still investigating but if you want I can get a sketch artist up here and we can run the description against this and any other cold cases we have."

"I would really appreciate that Detective Weber. Thank you." _I think this might be the way to go._

"No, thank you really. I know some of the guys around here give you a hard time but I am grateful for anything you have to offer." She sounded sincere.

"I'm glad to be of help." I said as I stood up.

"Thank you for coming in Miss Swan, I will be sure to look into this and I will let you know what I can." She extended her arm to shake my hand.

"Thank you and I will let you know if I come up with anything else."

EPOV

The next morning both Emmett and I left for work at the same time. I didn't know if that was a coincidence or if maybe he didn't want to be alone in the house. He actually seemed scared. I have never known Emmett to be scared of anything.

That in itself made me worried. I decided that maybe Alice was right. It couldn't hurt to contact the old owners. When I got home I called Mrs. Newton and asked her if she could get me the old owner's information. "Is there a problem Mr. Cullen?" she asked.

"Oh, um, no but I had some questions about some things I found in the house." I tried to come up with a decent excuse. "If you're sure." She paused. "Yes." I just left it at that. "Hold on a minute and I'll see what I can find."

She came back a few minutes later. "Unfortunately Mr. Cullen I can't give out the phone number but I can give you their names. Mr. and Mrs. Keith Mallory. And between you and me I believe they just moved to the North side of town."

"Thank you Mrs. Newton, I appreciate this."

"You're welcome, and let me know if I can be of anymore help." and she hung up. I went on-line immediately and found a new listing for a Mr. and Mrs. K Mallory on the same side of town Jessica had mentioned. I was debating between calling them and going to see them in person. I thought perhaps face to face would be the best way to get any information.

The next morning I woke up to Emma walking back and forth across my pillow trying to get me to wake up and feed her. It was my day off and surprisingly I was able to sleep in. When I looked at the clock it said 10:02am.

I showered and got dressed, not eating breakfast today I grabbed the box full of pictures just in case and headed over to the Mallory's new home.

I sat in my car for about 20 minutes before I got the courage to go up to the door. They might not even be home I realized. Maybe I should have called first. I walked up to the porch and rang the doorbell. I could hear someone coming to the door.

"May I help you?" a woman answered. "Mrs. Mallory? I'm sorry to just drop by like this. My name is Edward Cullen and I bought your old house and I had a few questions." I paused to gauge her reaction. "Would you like to come in Mr. Cullen?" she gestured for me to come inside.

"Well this may sound a little strange but…." I started thinking about how crazy this sounded. I quickly changed my course of action. I set the metal box on my lap. "I found this buried in the yard and I thought it might have belonged to a daughter of yours?"

"Let me take a look." She put her glasses that were on her head back in place. She looked through the drawings and her face looked confused as she saw the name on the back.

"I'm sorry Mr. Cullen but this does not belong to my daughter, her name is Lauren not Melissa." She had a strange look on her face. "These drawings are a little odd." She handed them back to me.

This wasn't what I was hoping to hear. "Perhaps your daughter had a friend with that name? Or a relative?"

"No, not that I know of….." she looked deep in thought for a few moments. As she refocused on my face she looked as if she were debating something. She took a deep breath and started to speak.

"Mr. Cullen when we bought the house in 1987 it had been vacant for two years. I became friends with the woman who lived a few houses down and she told me of some of the rumors that had gone on about the house when we moved in."

She watched me for a moment with her brow furrowed. "Please go on Mrs. Mallory." I urged. "The family that lived there before us, the Crowley's had two young children. I do not recall the boy's name but the girls name could have been Melissa." She pointed to the drawings then.

"According to my neighbor they had only lived there for a couple of years. The little girl would visit Betty daily but as time went on 'Melissa' grew more withdrawn and would tell stories to her about things that went on in the house." I was sitting on the edge of my seat both excited and nervous about what I was hearing.

"Betty never took the stories too seriously until one day she noticed that Melissa hadn't been by for a couple days which wasn't normal as she never missed a day before. She went over to the Crowley's expecting that Melissa had been sick or something only to find the house deserted.

The door had been unlocked so she let herself in. Plates still had food on them, lights and a TV left on as if they literally just ran out. They never came back. Eventually the bank reclaimed the house and it sat on the market for two years before we bought it."

I sat back against the couch taking in what I had just heard. I looked back to Mrs. Mallory to find her staring at me intently. "Did anything strange ever happen when you lived there?" I had to ask.

"No Mr. Cullen we never experienced anything abnormal in the 22 years we were there." I frowned at that more confused. "But I will say this, something scared Betty that day, she never told me what it was but she never stepped foot in my house in all the time I knew her."

"Thank you so much Mrs. Mallory, I am grateful for your help." I stood up and walked to the door. She nodded but looked at me with concern. "Does Betty still live there?" I asked.

"Betty died last year I'm afraid." She said. _Damn _"Thank you again." I said as I made my way back to my car.

I didn't go straight home, instead I went to the library. I checked out a few books on the paranormal. I wanted to see what I could find out on the subject. Surprisingly there were quite a few books to choose from.

I hadn't realized it was such a broad subject. Books about psychics to haunted houses around the country, past lives, pretty much anything you could think of. My phone rang as I was walking out to my car. "Hey Ali, what's up?"

"Me and Jazz are coming over tonight for dinner. I'll pick up pizza on the way." She informed me.

"I wont argue with that, but is there something going on that I should know about?" I only asked because she was sounding a little off.

"Yeah, I talked to Emmett today and he told me about last night." _Ah_ "I'll be home in about 10 minutes so you guys can come over whenever."

When I got home Emmett was already there. "Hey Em." I said as I walked in.

"Oh hey Edward, Alice and Jasper are coming over tonight for dinner." He told me.

"I just talked to Alice a few minutes ago, their picking up pizza." They arrived about 20 minutes later.

While we ate we avoided the subject just wanting things to be normal for a few minutes. Emma's hissing interrupted that. Again she was staring at the stairs. I sighed heavily.

"Um I went over to the old owners house today." I figured I might as well get started.

"What? Really?" Alice asked.

"I called Jessica Newton and she let me know where they were living. I had a long talk with Mrs. Mallory."

"What did she say?" Jasper asked. I told them about the entire conversation. I think we were all feeling the same at the moment. We were all pretty quiet not really sure what to make of it. Happy that we weren't alone in our experiences but having it happen to someone else made it _real_. Even if we weren't sure exactly went on with the Crowley's obviously something did.

"What are those about?" Alice noticed the books I had put on the table. "I stopped by the library and checked out a few things." I shrugged. Jasper grabbed the one on psychics. "Too bad you don't know any of those maybe they could tell you what going on." he said indicating the psychic on the cover.

Alice looked over at it for a minute before she had a look of recognition on her face. "I do." She simply said.

"What? How do you know a psychic?" Emmett asked. "I took a fashion design class at the college a few weeks ago and I was early one day. The class across the hall was packed so I wondered over to check it out. I talked with a lady by the door and she explained that her best friend was the teacher and she lectured on the paranormal."

She was smiling brightly. "I think her name was Isabella something. I'm going to pick up a schedule tomorrow and find out when she will be there next, maybe she can help us."

"I don't know Alice….." I told her. "Edward. I'm worried about you guys. This isn't normal. Something is very wrong with this house……we need help."

"I'll think about it." She frowned at me. "Fine but I'm still going to at least get her name." They left shortly after that and I was too tired to stay up so I went to bed.

"Good morning." I said as I poured myself a bowl of cereal. "Morning" Emmett said with a yawn. "I'm heading out to play golf with some guys from work, wanna come?" he asked.

"Nah, you go ahead I'm just gonna catch up on some laundry and do some more reading." I told him as I passed the cereal to him.

"Sounds like fun" he said sarcastically. "Ya sure?"

"Yeah, see ya later". Once I started reading I couldn't put the book down. It was comforting to know that this has happened to other people too. I must have fallen asleep at some point because I woke up to the clock chiming 2:00pm.

I got up and gathered the laundry and headed down to the basement. I was in the middle of trying to sort colors when I heard Alice call my name. "Edward?"

"I'm down here." I yelled back to her. She must not have heard me though because she called me again.

"Edward?" I started for the stairs. "I'm in the basement." I yelled as I was half way up.

"Edward" I heard her again but this time the voice came from behind me. I spun around only to find nothing there.

I ran up the stairs grabbing my keys and I ran out the front door. I drove to Alice's. I knocked on the door almost hyperventilating. Alice answered with a smile until she registered my expression.

"Edward, what's wrong?" she asked. "I think we need help, do you have the name of that psychic?"


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight

Chapter 7

EPOV

"What happened Edward?" Alice asked as she pulled me into her house. I was still breathing hard and still trying to wrap my head around what just happened so it took me a few minutes before I could speak.

Jasper came out from the kitchen then and looked at us with concern. He took a seat across from the couch that me and Alice were sitting on. "Edward? What's going on?" he asked.

"I don't know." I sighed heavily. They both waited for me to continue when I didn't Alice tried again. "Take a deep breath and start at the beginning." After another minute I told them what happened.

"I was going to do laundry. I was down in the basement when I heard you call my name."

She gasped and started shaking her head.

"I haven't left the house at all today, are you sure?" She said as her eyebrows furrowed. I took another deep breath.

"I know that now and yes Alice it was your voice, I know it. It sounded exactly like you." Jasper reached his hand out and grabbed Alice's.

"So anyways I yelled back to you…..it….whatever….. and said that I was downstairs. I heard your voice call me again and so I started up the stairs and said I was in the basement." I was starting to shake a little but I tried to hide it knowing how upset Alice was getting.

"The next time the voice called me, it came from behind me. I turned around to see no one there and I ran out the door and came straight here."

Alice was rubbing her temples with her fingers as if she had a headache. "Where's Emmett?" she asked.

"He's out playing golf." I said pinching the bridge of my nose. "Okay, I'm going to call him and have him come here instead of going home." She got up and I could hear her leave a message for him.

"So this _thing _can communicate, and impersonate people?" Jasper asked in disbelief.

"I guess, I mean the voice was Alice's, there is no doubt about it." I looked up to see her come back into the room and sit down in Jaspers lap.

"So obviously we're dealing with an intelligent being, it clearly knows what its doing." Alice added.

"It has to be, it knows _my name_. It can manipulate itself to sound like someone else, it's been watching us." I said with a shiver.

"Fuuuck" I heard Jasper mumble. We all jumped about 10 feet when the doorbell rang.

Alice got up and let Emmett in.

"So what's up? Why are we meeting here instead of at home?" Emmett asked almost cheerfully until he saw the expressions on our faces. "Something else happened."

He said as a statement instead of a question.

No one said anything at first and that was all the answer he needed at the moment. "What happened?" he asked. I told him everything that went on and he didn't say anything, he just mimicked Alice's earlier movements by rubbing his temples.

I laughed a little internally at the gesture that runs in the family, as my mom does the same thing. Me and dad were more the 'hands through the hair' types.

"I looked up the psychic and her name is Isabella Swan she is teaching Tuesday s, Thursday's and Saturday s. Maybe we could go to her class on Tuesday. Do you think you can get the time off?"

"Yeah that shouldn't be a problem; I will call the hospital and see if I can switch with someone." We stayed at Alice's that night but I knew we couldn't stay there forever so the next day Emmett and I went back home.

We decided that we felt safer sleeping downstairs in the living room and we didn't leave anyone in the house alone. Emma slept curled up next to me and always stayed under the covers but she was out the door in the morning with the rest of us.

Tuesday morning came quickly and when Emmett left for work I went over to Alice's. Miss Swan's lecture started at 1:30 so we had a few hours to kill and I decided to look her up online.

I discovered that she was an author and had written many books on the paranormal and had a new one just released that had already made the best seller's list.

I was glad to see that she didn't have an 800 number or anything and she didn't promise to read peoples futures for 2.99 a minute so I felt better about that.

What I felt most confident in was a small article that stated she was a consultant that worked with the police on occasion. That peaked my interest and I couldn't wait to speak with her so I talked Alice into going a little early in hopes we could catch her before her lecture.

"Alice, you ready?" I was getting nervous and just wanted to have something to do. "Okay Edward, just give me a minute." She yelled back at me from her bedroom.

The ride to the college wasn't that long and we were one of the first ones there. Unfortunately Miss Swan wasn't there yet so we were going to have to wait until the end of class to speak with her privately.

We took our seats in the front of the class. Only a few minutes later the room became quite full and was already getting stuffy.

Thankfully she walked in only a moment later and opened some of the windows. When she finally turned around to face the class I got my first good look at her.

I was immediately struck by her beauty. She was by far the most gorgeous woman I have ever seen and when she smiled I just about came undone. Then she looked right into my eyes and she blinked in what looked like surprise or shock for a minute before looking away quickly at her notes before speaking. I must have had a stupid look on my face because Alice kicked me to get my attention.

'What' I mouthed. She just rolled her eyes at me and whispered for me to pay attention to what Miss Swan was saying. That was the reason why we were here in the first place. So I really put the effort in to pay attention.

It wasn't hard. Everything she said was very interesting especially when I could apply it to my own situation. But I did notice that my mind wondered a few times imagining what it would be like to touch her beautiful face.

"…… so then Clairvoyance is the ability to 'see'. Clairaudience is the ability to 'hear'.

Clairsentience has two parts: the first being the ability to pick up a thought and just know it. The second being able to pick up a thought and transform it immediately into a feeling. Having the ability to feel how others feel experience their pain, loss, grief etc."

"I looked up at the clock and we only had about 5 minutes left. "I'm sorry I ran a little longer than I hoped for and so if anyone has any questions please feel free to stay after class."

After everyone else finally left Alice and I approached Miss Swan. "Miss Swan? I'm Edward Cullen and this is my sister Alice." She smiled up at me.

"Please call me Bella, what can I do for you?" she had asked. I got lost in her eyes for a moment before Alice cleared her throat and started to explain our situation.

"Bella, it is getting worse and I'm really afraid for my brothers."

"Brothers?" she asked. "Yes, my older brother just moved to town so he is staying with me for a while." I explained.

"Has he also been experiencing the disturbances?" she asked. "Yes though not everything since he hasn't been here the whole time. I did a little research on the house itself." I started to say but we were interrupted by people walking in and sitting down apparently for the next lecture.

Bella's eyebrows furrowed for a minute. "My next class is about to start but I would very much like to continue this conversation. Perhaps if you're not busy later you would like to meet at my house and discuss this further?"

"Yes, thank you Bella." Alice was pulling her in for a hug. "Your welcome." She said as Alice released her.

She wrote her address down on the back of one of her cards and handed it to me. "How about 7:00pm?"

"Perfect. I can't thank you enough for this Bella." I said. "I want to help if I can, and bring your brother with you I think it would be best to have everyone that's involved be there."

BPOV

As I walked into class on Tuesday I could tell I was going to need a bigger room soon. There were barely enough chairs for everyone and the room was already getting warm.

I walked over to the windows to open them when I saw out of the corner of my eye the most gorgeous man I've ever seen. Ever. Easily beating out even my long term celebrity crush Hugh Grant, which is not an easy feat seeing as how no one has ever been able to do that before.

I was glad the room was already too warm as I could use it as an excuse for the blush I could already feel on my cheeks. He wasn't looking right at me yet so I took that opportunity to check him out a little more.

My eyes zeroed in on his left hand just to make sure there wasn't a ring there and thankfully there wasn't. I noticed the woman sitting next to him trying to get his attention but it wasn't working as he was looking in my direction still not making eye contact.

Finally when I faced the class to get started I looked right into his eyes. _Holy shit_

Not only were they the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen but I've seen them before.

It was him, I'd been seeing his eyes in my dreams on and off for weeks. What could this mean? I knew I needed to talk to him right away especially when I noticed that 'the boy' appeared standing right beside him just staring at him.

After class was over I saw the two coming over to approach me. His name is Edward and when he introduced his sister my heart unclenched a little bit.

I don't know how long I was just staring into his eyes but I couldn't bring myself to look away. That is until Alice cleared her throat and told me of some of the things that were happening at Edwards home.

I decided to invite them over to my house later on tonight so we could try and get things figured out. I didn't make a habit of inviting people to my home but these seemed to be special circumstances.

I got home around five to find Rose was there, she was asleep on the couch. "Rose, wake up." She groaned and opened her eyes.

"What time is it?" she asked. "Five." I answered. "Wow, I didn't mean to sleep that long." She stood up and stretched.

"We're having guests over tonight at seven. You need to help me clean up." I informed her as I looked around. It wasn't that bad but it could be better.

"Who's coming?" she asked as she started the dishes. "I met some people in class today, they've been having disturbances in their home." I told her.

"Since when do you invite strangers into your home because they are having disturbances? Why not just meet with them at school?"

"Well, it's mostly because one of them has the same eyes as the ones that I have been dreaming about and also that 'the boy' was there and he didn't take his eyes off of Edward the whole time."

I noticed Rose shiver. "Edward huh?" she smirked. "What?" she just shook her head. "So Edward who?" she asked.

"Edward Cullen and his sister Alice and I asked them to bring their other brother over too but I don't know his name yet."

"So, they all live together? How old are they?" she asked found the vacuum cleaner. "Um no, apparently it's Edwards house, Alice doesn't live there but the other brother is staying there for a while since he is new in town."

"Ah" she said as she turned on the power and vacuumed up my mess from last night.

I made my way to the kitchen and got some snacks out and put them on the coffee table.

A few minutes later there was a knock on the door.

I opened the door to a smiling Edward along with Alice and two other men. "Come in."

I stepped to the side and gestured towards the living room as they walked in. Well all except for the dark haired man who stood in the doorway staring at Rose with his mouth hanging open.

I looked up at Rose to see she had a similar expression and neither one said a word. I looked over to see that Edward had also noticed them. He cleared his throat. "Emmett, why don't you come in so that Bella can close the door."

"Oh, ah sorry." He stuttered and moved out of the way. "No problem, I'm Bella." I extended my hand to him. "And this is my best friend Rosalie."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Emmett." He shook my hand and then turned to Rose. The other man extended his hand to me. "I'm Jasper, Alice's boyfriend."

"Nice to meet you." I said shaking his hand. "Please have a seat. Can I get you something to drink? Coffee, tea, soda?"

When I came back with everyone's drinks I internally smiled as I saw the seating arrangement. Rose and Emmett were sitting on the love seat, Jasper in the recliner, Edward and Alice on the couch leaving the only open spot next to Edward.

"Why don't you tell me everything about what's been going on." I suggested even though Alice already told me about some things but I knew there was more to it.

All four of them talked about the experiences they had and I stayed quiet until they were finished. "So what do you think?" Alice asked me.

"Well my main concern is that fact that whoever or whatever this is called your name Edward as well as using Alice's voice. That means we are not dealing with a residual haunting, it's something more. It knows who you are."

I saw Edward tense a little when I said that. I put my hand on his to try and comfort him.

"What's a residual haunting?" Jasper asked.

"It would be like old film loop, meaning that it is a scene or image that is played over and over again through the years. Many of these locations, where these hauntings take place, experience an event or a series of events, which imprints itself on the atmosphere of a place. This event can suddenly discharge and play itself at various times. The events are not always visual either; they are often replayed as sounds and noises that have no explanation.

Often the sounds and images recorded are related to traumatic events which took place at the location and caused some sort of disturbance. This is the reason why so many battlefields have become famous for their hauntings over the years."

"What type of haunting this is then?" Emmett asked.

"I believe that this is an intelligent haunting. In this type of haunting, you are dealing with an "intelligent" presence that can communicate with you. This spirit is best described as the personality of a person who once lived and who has stayed behind in our world.

Human spirits that had not yet crossed-over, and had some unfinished business with a living person, or a message they wanted to deliver before crossing-over. Some intelligent ghosts are too emotionally attached to their loved ones that they refuse to cross-over."

"So do you think it can be dangerous?" Alice asked. "Not necessarily, usually intelligent ghosts are simply human personalities, and if the spirit was a kind and caring person in life, the spirit will most likely be the same way in death. Likewise, angry and mean people will usually keep those same negative character traits as spirits."

"Have you dealt with this kind of thing before?" Jasper asked. I noticed that Edward has kept quiet for the most part but he did turn his hand over so we were actually holding hands now instead of me just resting my hand on his.

"Usually the spirits I deal with find me, they are looking for assistance to cross over or for assistance to accomplish a certain task so I help them and then they cross over….but I have worked on a few 'haunted house' cases over the years."

"I would like to come over to your house Edward. It would give me an idea of what we're dealing with." I said as I squeezed his hand.

"You don't have to do that." He said softly. "I want to, I want to help. When is a good time for you?"

I noticed Alice smiling and Edward relaxed a little. "I have to work pretty long hours tomorrow and Thursday but I have Friday off."

"Friday is perfect. I want to give you all my phone number and please use it any time you need to."

"Thank you Bella." Edward said as we were all standing at the front door. Without thinking I pulled him in for a hug. "Your welcome. And remember you can call anytime."

Alice also gave me a hug so I felt a little less embarrassed for my display. We all said our goodbyes and I closed the door. "Wow"

"I don't think wow covers it Bella." Rose said as we sat back down. "So first off I noticed you and Edward were holding hands….." she trailed off suggestively.

"It's not like that Rose and you know it. He's scared and worried obviously it was a comforting gesture and nothing more." That I was sure of.

"Okay, I'll give you that, he did seem shaken up but I also noticed him staring at you all night."

"That's because I was doing most of the talking." She just rolled her eyes at me. "Keep telling yourself that, but from where I was sitting I could tell he's interested in you." She smirked.

I decided to deflect. "Yes speaking of where you were sitting, would you like to share what was going on between you and Emmett?" it was my turn to smirk.

"You noticed that huh?" she said sheepishly. "I don't think anyone missed that." I pressed.

"He is drop dead gorgeous and he seems so nice, I don't know…I thought about giving him my phone number but under the circumstance I wasn't sure if that was a good idea."

"Well don't forget I gave them my cell and the house number so I wouldn't be surprised if you got a call soon anyway." Her face lit up when she heard that.

"Are you going to tell them about the boy?" she asked. "Probably, I just wanted to see if I could make the connection before I worried them unnecessarily."

"That's probably for the best."

"I'm going to go do some research on Edward's house and see if I can find anything that could be useful."

"I'm going to bed, good night Bell see you in the morning."

"Good night Rose."


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer" I do not own twilight

Chapter 8

EPOV

When we got home I was really excited not only at the fact the Bella wanted to hear more about the things that were going on but also in the fact that I would be seeing her again so soon.

I never expected that she would invite us to her home. I can't imagine she does that often so that got me thinking that she must be concerned. That couldn't be good.

But still as I thought about it I couldn't keep my mind from going back to her. She of course is beautiful but she is also clearly intelligent, she is an author, and of course caring, she is willing to help people she doesn't know. I wonder if she has a boyfriend.

I must have zoned out a bit because I was startled when Alice nudged me. "Did you hear anything I just said?"

"Sorry Ali I guess my mind is somewhere else." _Yeah where it shouldn't be. Here is this virtual stranger willing to help out with a very unusual situation and I couldn't stop thinking about how I can get her to go out with me. There has to be something wrong with that._

"Yes she is very pretty." Alice said with a smirk.

"What"?

"Oh come on big brother, I'm not blind."

"You don't know what you're talking about." I said as my blush gave me away.

"Uh huh….so you didn't notice that you two were practically drooling over each other? Do you realize that while you were staring into each others eyes I managed to count to 87? And I still had to snap you both out of it."

"She wasn't drooling." She raised an eyebrow at me.

"Whatever you say." She laughed as she made her way into the kitchen. Later on when Jasper and Emmett came over we told them what happened and where we were going.

We met Bella's best friend Rosalie, apparently that is who Alice met that first day and she was the one who told Alice about Bella.

We exchanged numbers and she surprised me by giving me a hug as we were leaving.

I was feeling a little unnerved about everything but I felt better that Bella wanted to come over Friday.

"I knew she would be able to help." Alice said as we were leaving. "It sounds like she really knows what she's talking about, and she seems really nice too, so does Rosalie." Jasper said as he was opening the car door.

"Yeah Emmett what was with you? You're just as bad as Edward. I'm surprised either of you are able to get dates at all if that's how you act around girls."

"I couldn't help myself, as soon as I saw her all coherent thoughts went out the window."

Alice just laughed and shook her head.

BPOV

I did as much research on Edward's home as the internet allowed. In the morning I would be heading down to the county offices and pull a list of all the old owners of the property.

I found in my past 'haunted house' cases that it usually had something to do with a person associated with the property so starting with old owners seems like the first step.

When I woke up I smiled a little when I thought back to my dreams. It was the first time in a long time that I had a normal one, one that did not entail any messages or anything precognitive.

It was completely random and I could feel the heat on my face as I was remembering that Edward was in it. Not quite a sex dream but there was hand holding and kissing and I really really enjoyed it.

"What's got you smiling so early in the morning?" I heard Rose and I looked up from my cup of coffee. "And blushing too? I guess I should have asked _who's_ got you smiling so early in the morning."

I just rolled my eyes and avoided the question. "Want to have lunch today? I'm going to be over at the county records office this morning so I could come by and pick you up?"

"Sure, just call me before you head over. Doing more research on Edward's house?" She asked while pouring herself a cup of coffee. "Yeah I thought I should get a list of all the old owners, it might give us a starting point."

I got to the records office early enough that the line wasn't too long. It was pretty easy to track down especially since one of the clerks helped me out so I was done in plenty of time for lunch.

After making a copy of the information I needed I called Rose and told her I was picking her up for lunch. We walked into our favorite restaurant again and sat at our normal table. "Did you find anything out?" Rose asked while munching on our chips and salsa.

"I got the names of all the owners. After lunch I'm going to head over to the library and see if I can dig up any information on the families that lived there."

"Good idea." She said as our lunch finally arrived. "So are you going to call Edward?"

"I thought I might call him and see how he's doing, but he said he was working long hours today and tomorrow and I don't want to bother him at work."

"Just leave a message on their home phone." She said as her lips twitched.

"Should I tell Emmett you said hi if he answers?" I said teasingly.

"Shut up."

After we finished I dropped Rose back off at work and went to the library. I ended up finding out some interesting information. So at least my excuse for calling Edward was a little more founded.

When I got home I called their house and I got the answering machine like I expected.

"Hi Edward, this is Bella. Bella Swan. I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay and I was going to let you know about some of the research I was able to do on your house. Give me a call back if you want, otherwise I can just let you know about it when I see you Friday."

I sat down on the couch not realizing how tired I was until I was startled awake by the phone ringing. I looked around a little disoriented, it was dark out and I could smell dinner being made. I looked at the clock and it was nearly 7:00.

"Bella, its Edward." I looked up to see Rose holding the phone out for me to take with a huge smile plastered on her face.

"Hi Edward."

"Hi Bella, I uh got your message."

"Oh yeah, um I got some information about the house and I thought that we could go over it if you wanted to or we could wait till Friday if you would rather." I was all of the sudden feeling like an idiot.

"No, I think it would be a good idea to go over it before then, ya know if you wanted to that is."

"Sure that sounds good; um you could come over for dinner tomorrow night after work?"

"I-I get off by 6:00 tomorrow so um how about after that?..... I-If that's not too late."

"That's not too late." I said too quickly as I looked up at Rosalie who was still standing there smiling.

"And you know if Emmett doesn't want to stay in the house alone, he can come too since um Rosalie will be here anyway." I looked up to see her eyes bug out and a look of disbelief changing into gratitude took over her features.

"I'm sure that he'll be happy to hear that, it saves him from trying to come up with an excuse to see her again." He chuckled.

"Great, so we'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Have a good night Bella."

"You too Edward." And I hung up the phone.

"Sooooooo" Rose asked clearly wanting to know what was going on.

"Edward and Emmett are coming over for dinner tomorrow nigh."

She said nothing but the smile on her face was a pretty good indicator on how she felt.

"What do you think I should make for dinner?"

"Crap" I looked over to see Rose running for the kitchen.

"Well so much for the breadsticks." She said as she pulled the cookie sheet out of the oven. I laughed as she dumped them into the garbage.

"My last class gets out at 4:30 and I'll pick up some steaks, or something and the guys should be here around 6:30 or 7:00ish."

After we ate we cleaned up the house in preparation for tomorrow. "I'm heading for bed, I'm going to try and get off work a little early so I can help you with dinner….. and thanks Bella, for inviting Emmett."

"No need to thank me, according to Edward he was working on his excuse to see you again anyway." I thought her face might crack when she heard that.

When I got home from the store Rose was already home. I unloaded the groceries and started to get things ready.

"I left the curling iron on if you want to use it." She said as she walked into the kitchen.

"You look great Rose, how long have you been home?"

"About an hour, I didn't have a lot to do today anyway. I can get started on dinner if you want to go take a shower."

"Thanks, I'll try and be quick." I hurried though my shower and got ready for our night.

"Everything is just about ready." she said as the doorbell rang. "Perfect timing." I said while walking for the door.

"Hey guys, come on in." I noticed that they both looked a little dressed up, I was glad that we weren't the only ones that did that. Rosalie walked out of the kitchen smiling as she looked right at Emmett.

"You ladies are looking lovely this evening." Emmett said without taking his eyes off of Rosalie.

"Thank you and you two are looking pretty handsome yourselves." She said back without missing a beat. Edward and I looked at each other and smiled.

"You do look very nice Bella." Edward had leaned down and whispered in my ear.

"Thank you Edward, you look nice too." I knew I was blushing and I was relieved to see that he was too.

After we ate I was startled to see that the boy appeared and was standing next to Edward again. I gasped a little as it took me by surprise.

"Is everything okay?" Edward asked. "Yep" I said not sure if I should tell them what I had seen. I had planned on telling them about the boy at some point because I was pretty sure that there was some sort of connection even though I didn't know what yet.

But at the same time this was usually the point where my 'gift' interfered with my love life if you could call it that. Most guys would run for the hills when I told them the things I see. And even though Edward is accepting of my abilities I was afraid that when he sees first hand that I talk to the dead he would have a negative reaction.

But I am probably jumping the gun; just because I am attracted to Edward doesn't mean he feels anything for me expect gratitude for helping him out. And tomorrow is bound to scare him off anyway even if he felt something, so I decided I might as well tell him what I know, he really should be aware of everything.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"I'm sure, but I should probably tell you something." He suddenly looked worried.

"Okay, as I told you last time most of the spirits I deal with find me. For the past several weeks I have been seeing a young boy frequently. I haven't been able to help him yet because he hasn't been able to tell me what he needs, so he has just been hanging around.

I believe he is trying to leave me clues but I haven't been able to figure them out yet. Anyway he's here now and he just startled me by his sudden appearance."

Both Edward and Emmett's eyes went wide. "So he's here now?" Emmett asked looking around.

"Yes, but don't worry from what I can tell he is only trying to get me to help him."

Edward took a deep breath and relaxed a little.

"Well, if you aren't worried about it, then I won't be either." He gave me a small smile.

"I'm glad you feel that way Edward, but there's more." His eyes got wide again. "Again, I believe that he does not mean any harm but I think that there may be a connection."

"What do you mean a connection?" Emmett asked. "I'm not sure exactly." I said as I got up from the table and moved into the living room to the couch. The others followed me in and sat down.

"It's just that he seems to have an interest in Edward." Both Edward and Emmett paled and I took Edwards hand again hoping he doesn't run away from me.

"Like I said I have been seeing him for weeks but the day you and Alice came to my class he was there and he pretty much watched you the entire time." He shivered and just looked down at the floor. I was really hoping I hadn't said too much.

"And tonight?" he asked in a shaky voice.

"He appeared at your side and kept his eyes on you." I waited for a response but I didn't get one so I continued.

"He's gone now."

"Do you think he's the one at my house? The one that called my name?"

"No, if he had the ability to speak he would have spoken to me by now and just told me what he wants me to know. His apparent interest in you just tells me that your situation is related to him in some way."

Both Edward and Emmett were quiet and staring out the window.

"I'm sorry Edward I didn't mean to upset you, maybe I shouldn't have said anything."

"No Bella, I want to know these things, I need to know what's going on. I just can't tell you how much I appreciate your help."

"I'm glad to help, I just hope I don't scare you off, I mean scare you too much."

"I'll admit this is a little scary but not because of anything you've done." He reassured me and this time he intertwined our fingers together as he held my hand.

"Do you guys want a beer? Or maybe we could watch a movie or something to lighten the mood a little?" Rose asked.

"A beer sounds really good right now, thanks." Edward said and Emmett agreed. Several beers and a few card games later we decided on a movie. I got to pick it out since I won the last game of gin we played. It wasn't a hard decision as I put in 'About a Boy'.

"I should have known, though I thought you were somewhat over your Hugh Grant obsession." Rosalie whispered though Edward heard anyway.

"Hugh Grant huh?" he cocked an eyebrow.

"Well those British accents are pretty irresistible." I defended myself.

"I guess you'll have start working on your accent then Edward." Emmett laughed.

Edward ignored him and we all watched the movie. Obviously I fell asleep at some point because I woke up to the front door closing quietly and my head was resting on Edwards shoulder. And someone had covered us with a blanket.

He was leaning into the corner of the couch and I was leaning on him. I didn't realize his arms were around me until I tried to move. It was enough that he woke up. He looked around confused for a minute but smiled brightly when he noticed me.

"Good morning."

"Good morning, I'm sorry Bella I didn't mean to fall asleep." Edward said while stretching.

"It's fine, I think we all fell asleep." I said wondering if both Rosalie and Emmett had left at the same time or if someone was just sleeping in the other room.

"Where are Rosalie and Emmett?"

"I'm not sure but I heard the front door close so someone left." I said as Edward stood up and looked out the window.

"Emmett's car is gone, he had to work today." I double checked in Rosalie's room and she was also gone.

"Looks like it's just you and me, do you want some breakfast?" I asked.

"Sure breakfast sounds good. Do you want to go out somewhere? I don't want you to have to cook especially after you made us dinner last night."

"I don't mind cooking, waffles or pancakes?" I asked.

"Waffles if you don't mind." He smiled at me.

"A man after my own heart." We finished with breakfast and sat around and talked for a while before I suggested that we go check out this house.

We climbed into my truck and headed for Edwards. As I drove I noticed that on almost every corner the little boy was standing there facing in the direction of Edwards house.

I noticed the last few blocks he stayed put. He stood on the corner and watched us as we got closer to Edwards but he didn't come any closer. I could no longer see him as we turned a corner.

I pulled up behind a silver Volvo and parked my truck. Edward started to open the door to get out but I stopped him.

"I was thinking that it might be a good idea if I went in there alone." Edwards smile turned into a frown.

"I'd rather you didn't Bella. I don't like the idea of you being in there by yourself."

"Edward, I'll be fine. I'm used to this remember? And I think I will get a better response if I go in there alone." Edward was already shaking his head before I had finished.

"I'll feel a lot better if I go in there with you."

"I know you're worried but give me at least five minutes, I'll leave the door open but I really need to do this Edward, please understand."

He sighed "Ok but I'm waiting on the porch and the door stays open."

"It'll be okay Edward, I'll be right back." And I walked through the front door. I couldn't see anyone at first but I could hear them. It started off as a low mumble but the closer I walked to the stairs the louder it got.

They didn't seem to notice me at the moment so I took the opportunity to listen. It sounded a woman crying followed by two sets of footsteps running down hall. I started up the stairs and that's when I was finally noticed.

"Who the hell are you? Get out of my house." He was furious.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight

Chapter 9

BPOV

The expression on his face was nothing less than murderous. "What are you doing here?" he spat. I wanted to get as much information out of him as possible but now was not the best time to piss him off even more than he already was.

"Who are you?" I asked at least a name would be enough to start with. "Who am I? How dare you ask that question of me in my own house." He yelled. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a small boy peering through the railing of the staircase.

It wasn't the same boy; this boy was about 4 years old with slightly darker hair. This boy's face was one of curiosity and fear. I was startled when the man yelled again.

"Victoria!" he screeched. "I expect you to keep better control of your son if you want to keep him from getting hurt."

I looked over to see the boy scurrying up the stairs. I heard mumbling again but my attention was quickly brought back to the man in front of me.

"I'm not going to ask you again." Just then there was some sort of a crash. Like glass breaking or something.

"Bella?!?" I could hear Edward call to me. The front door slammed shut and the lights started flickering on and off. Something wasn't right because at the sound of the door shutting the man turned his head quickly as if he was surprised.

A look of panic crossed his face for a brief moment before he disappeared. I could hear the doorknob jingling. I knew it was Edward trying to get in. I turned on the stairs to head back down and I could hear Edward yelling my name.

When I reached the bottom it stopped the lights stayed off and the front door opened and Edward ran in. The look in his eyes was familiar as they reminded me of a night in my dream. He was scared.

"Bella are you okay?" he was frantic. "Yes I'm fine." I looked around but couldn't see or hear anything. It was almost like no one else was here. Edward grabbed my hand and practically dragged me out. Before we reached the door I stopped walking.

"Hold on a second, I just need to check on something." Edward looked nervously at me but didn't say anything. "I'll be right back."

"No way, I'm coming with you." He was adamant. Knowing he wouldn't be letting go of me right now I nodded and walked back towards the stairs. I listened and looked around but there wasn't anything or anyone to be found.

I started up the stairs with Edward in tow and still found nothing. Huh. I could feel the tension roll off of Edward in waves and decided it was time to go. We walked back out to the car and I could see Edward relax slightly.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked in a much softer voice. "Yes." I tried my best to reassure him as we climbed back into the truck and pulled away from the curb making a u-turn to head back in the same direction we came from. As soon as we turned the corner I could see the boy standing right where we left him.

We made eye contact as dirt poured from his mouth again. The same imagine repeated block after block and I finally had to close my eyes. I stayed like that for a few minutes. I didn't even realize that we had stopped until I felt Edwards hand on my face.

"Bella?" he asked quietly. I opened my eyes and turned to look at him. "Sorry Edward." He looked at me with concern. I smiled and opened the door and climbed out.

He met me in front of the truck and we both reached for each other at the same time. I unlocked the door and I walked straight for the kitchen and Edward followed me in. I opened up the fridge and pulled out two beers. I handed one to Edward and he twisted off the cap and handed it back to me as I gave him the other one.

I pulled out some ham and cheese and we made ourselves some sandwiches. We moved into the living room sitting on the couch eating in silence for a minute.

"What happened Bella?" he asked so I started my explanation.

"When I walked in I could hear people talking but it was more like a mumbling so I walked closer to try and make out what was being said. I heard a woman crying and then running down the hall.

That's when a man noticed me there and demanded to know who I was and what I was doing there."

"Demanded?" Edward asked looking concerned again.

"Yeah, he wasn't very happy that I was there. I asked him who he was which didn't go over well but I saw a young boy looking at me from the stairs."

"Was it the same boy as the one you've been seeing?" he asked running his hands through his hair.

"No, he was younger with darker hair. The man noticed him too and yelled for a woman named Victoria to keep a better eye on the boy if she didn't want to see him getting hurt." Edward tensed again.

"The man turned his attention back to me and asked again what I was doing when I heard something break. When I heard your voice the door slammed shut and the lights started flickering.

The weird thing is is that it wasn't the man that shut the door. He looked surprised and slightly panicked before disappearing. Then without warning it all stopped. That's why I wanted to look around when you came in; I wanted to see if they were truly gone."

"Gone?"

"Well not _gone_. I mean not permanently at least."

"That happened a few times to me too. It would just turn off or something without any rhyme or reason. Sometimes for days at a time before starting again." he was quiet for a minute before continuing.

"You mentioned a woman's name, maybe we should see if this Victoria person lived there then?" he asked

"Oh yeah, actually I already pulled the list of owners for your house." He looked surprised. I remembered that was the reason I invited him over yesterday but we just never got that far.

"Yeah, I'll go get it." I got up and went to get it from my desk. I handed it to Edward and he looked it over carefully then he put it on the coffee table so we could both see it. After a minute he looked at me.

"So is it safe to say that the people in the house now are James and Victoria Johnson?"

"I'd say so, that would make the most sense. It says here that they sold the house in 1977. Then the house seemed to turn over about every two years until the Crowley's moved out in 1985. The Mallory's bought it in 1987 until they sold it to you."

"So why do you think that the Mallory's never had any trouble? They lived there for almost 23 years and nothing happened." Edward told me about his visit to Mrs. Mallory and everything that she said.

"My guess is that when the house stood empty for two years it went dormant." He looked puzzled for a second but didn't ask any questions.

"So what changed?"

"Sometimes when a house is remodeled or renovated it can 'wake up' any spirits that are there." Edward put his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands and sighed.

I rubbed my hand up and down his back trying to comfort him as well as trying to ignore the fact that my stomach was doing flips when I felt the muscles through his shirt.

"Now that we know who's there we need to find out why." I told him as I stood up taking our plates into the kitchen. On my way back I saw that my answering machine was blinking. I hit play and listened to the message.

"_Hello Miss Swan, my name is Bert Smith I was given your name by Professor Greene. You've come highly recommended and I could use your assistance on a case that I am working on. As I'm sure you are very busy I would be more than willing to add a bonus in addition to your consultation fee if you could agree to meet with me as soon as possible. Please call me back at 425-555-7273."_

Edward's eyebrows furrowed before looking at me very seriously. "Bella I'm sorry. I should have said something before but I will pay you for your time."

"No Edward I want to help, I'm not expecting any payment." I told him seriously.

"I insist Bella."

"I don't charge my friends for helping them." He blinked his eyes in surprise.

"I know we've just met, and I don't know you very well but….. I would like to consider you my friend Edward."

"I'd like that too, but I still want to pay you." He insisted.

"You can pay me by taking me out to dinner sometime." Good Lord why did I just say that? I blushed and looked down.

"How about tonight?" he smiled brightly.

"I'm kidding Edward; you don't have to buy me dinner. I can pay for myself." Trying to hide my embarrassment I didn't want him thinking I expected him to buy me dinner but I also didn't want him to think I didn't want to go at all.

"Bella I planned on asking you to dinner anyway and I already had every intention of paying." He informed me with a small smirk.

"Oh well, if that's the case how can I refuse." I tried to joke but I think I just sounded like an idiot.

A few hours later we were sitting at the restaurant along with Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, and Alice. "This isn't quite how I imagined our dinner to be." Edward whispered to me at the sound of Emmett's booming laugh.

I'm not even sure how it happened. One minute Edward and I were on our way out the door and the next minute Rosalie pulls up as Alice was calling Edward. That somehow got turned into all of us going out to dinner together.

"Oh?" I tried to ask innocently to hide the fact that I was thinking the same thing.

"You do know that this doesn't qualify as a date right?" _A date_? Did he just say date? Wait, what does he mean by that? This doesn't qualify as a date because he wants it to be just me and him or that neither one would qualify as a date because he just wants to be friends?

I was about to ask him what he meant but we were interrupted by the waiter asking us if we would like dessert. We decided to each order something different so that we could share. Unfortunately the moment had passed and I wasn't sure how to bring up the date subject again. Hopefully Edward would make himself clear later on.

We ended up back at my house and the topic of conversation changed to the events of the day. I retold my story to everyone and their reactions were all slightly different. Alice was of course worried, Emmett was relieved that we knew who was there. Jasper was more focused on what role the little boy had in all of this, and Edward just didn't want me going back in there alone.

"So it just all stopped? For no apparent reason?" Rosalie asked.

"No I think there was a reason; I just don't know what it could be. But yes right before we left things were quiet and no one seemed to be around that I could tell."

"So this James guy looked panicked? That doesn't make a lot of sense." Emmett asked.

"He did for a moment before disappearing and I'm not sure what caused it but whatever it was seemingly took him by surprise." I answered.

"So do you think that the little boy is related to them then? Maybe a son or some relative at least?" Jasper asked.

"That would be my guess. I started to research the families of the people that had owned the house but I didn't get very far, but since we are pretty sure who it is now, I'm going to go to the library tomorrow and see what else I can find."

"I'll go with you." Edward said. It was getting late and Jasper and Alice said they were going to go home.

"Do you guys want to stay with us tonight?" Jasper asked Edward and Emmett.

"No, I think we are going to go home." Edward answered.

"What!?!?!?" Alice almost shrieked.

"You heard what Bella said, it's quiet right now. Now is the time to go back. We can't keep staying at other people's houses." Emmett told her.

"Come on, it's not like we mind having you and this way you'll be safe." Alice tried reasoning.

"Alice, we'll be fine and if something happens we'll come over but Emmett's right." Alice was not pleased with his answer and I was a little disappointed that they weren't staying again.

As we walked them to the door there were hugs all around and I was surprised to see the Emmett gave Rosalie a quick kiss before leaving. Clearly I missed a whole lot last night. Edward was the last to walk out after giving me a hug and a promise to see me tomorrow.

I closed the door and turned to face Rosalie. I didn't have to say anything as she started smiling knowing what I wanted to know.

"After you and Edward fell asleep." She began to explain as we went to sit down.

"Emmett and I stayed up for most of the night talking. He told me his life story and I told him mine. Then we noticed it was after 5:00 in the morning and since we both had to be up for work in a couple hours we decided to try and get some sleep."

"Oh really? And where did the two of you sleep?"

"Emmett slept in my bed…."

"What?" I interrupted her.

"Calm down, it wasn't like that. I slept in your bed. I didn't think you would want someone else to, so I offered him mine."

"Oh, okay. But what about the kissing?"

"Well after I showed him where to stay he was saying goodnight and then he kissed me."

"Just like that?"

"Yeah, pretty much. We were standing in the doorway. He thanked me for letting him use my bed and then he brushed my hair back over my shoulder and he leaned into kiss me before he said goodnight." She was smiling ear to ear again.

"How was it?"

"The best kiss I have ever had, and he gave me another one before leaving for work in the morning."

"That's great Rose! I'm so happy things worked out so well for you."

"Things worked out for you and Edward too but you guys were asleep for most of it." She snickered.

"What?" I felt the heat on my cheeks again wondering what I could have done in my sleep and wondered if Edward was aware of it or not.

"You two fell asleep pretty quickly and you were pretty much leaning on one another." She started laughing now.

"What happened?" I was afraid to find out.

"Edward started mumbling. We couldn't understand anything he said but it was pretty much nonstop for about 45 minutes before you joined in."

"Please tell me I didn't say anything embarrassing."

"I have no idea. We couldn't understand either of you but it was like you were in a conversation or something. You would take turns mumbling, and then…."

I knew it was bad just by the way she trailed off. "And then….." I prompted.

"Your hand was twitching for a few minutes before you put it right on Edward's um… _lap_."

She threw her head back in hysterics as I dropped mine in shame. "That's when we decided to cover you guys with a blanket, in case things got a little more intimate." She said still cracking up.

"And Emmett saw the whole thing?" I asked hoping somehow I could will it to be different.

"Yep"

"Just shoot me now."

"It's not that bad you know, you were both asleep."

"Uh huh, not bad at all." I said sarcastically. "Goodnight Rose." I just wanted to be alone in my mortification.

"Night Bella." she said still laughing.

Edward showed up the next morning. I kept looking for any signs that Emmett had told him what I did but I didn't see any. Either he didn't know or he was very good at keeping it hidden.

At the library we used the old fiche machines to look up old newspaper articles. At least this time we had names and dates so it would be a lot easier to find something.

After about an hour Edward called to me. "Hey Bella, come check this out." I walked over to him.

I read over his shoulder. "Oh shit."


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight

Chapter 10

EPOV

When I got home from work Wednesday Emmett wasn't home yet but I knew he wouldn't be too much longer. He called and told me he was having a drink with some guys from work. I was making dinner when he walked in.

"Honey, I'm home." He yelled as he came into the kitchen. "Want some dinner?"

"Sure, I didn't eat much before, whatcha ya making?" he lifted the lid from the pot on the stove to see what it was.

"Nothing too special, just some hamburger helper." He walked over to the answering machine. I didn't realize that we had a message.

_"Hi Edward, this is Bella. Bella Swan. I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay and I was going to let you know about some of the research I was able to do on your house. Give me a call back if you want, otherwise I can just let you know about it when I see you Friday."_

Yeah I want to call you back; I just wish she wanted to talk to me about something other than this situation.

"Sounds like someone is a little eager to talk to you Eddie."

"Shut up it's not like that; didn't you hear her say it was regarding the house?"

"Yeah and you already have plans to see her Friday, I'm sure that it could wait until then. I think it's more that Bella just doesn't want to wait that long." I wanted that to be the case but I wasn't too sure.

"Maybe."

"So, you're going to call her back right? You're not going to chicken out are you?"

"Oh unlike you? I thought you said you were going to call Rosalie by now."

"Yeah well I'm trying to think of a reason to call her without sounding stupid."

"You've never had that problem before."

"I know, but Rosalie seems different……and I know what you're going to say. I barely talked to her but I really want to get to know her better. I feel drawn to her for some reason." _Yeah I know the feeling_. Emmett picked up the phone and handed it to me.

"Okay, okay. I'll call her." I dialed already having memorized her number. I felt like a teenager again calling the girl I have a crush on. My stomach was in knots.

After our somewhat awkward conversation, it turned out that she wanted to get together before Friday. Maybe Emmett wasn't that far off after all.

"Bella invited us over for dinner tomorrow night." Emmett lit up when he heard that.

"What did I tell you?" he said grabbing some plates and putting dinner on the table.

The next night when we got there I was amazed at how they both looked. It was pretty clear they made an extra effort and I was glad to know that we weren't the only ones. Dinner was really good. I don't know who cooked but it was immensely better than I've ever had.

We were almost done eating when Bella gasped. She told us about the young boy that's been around us lately. Finding out that there was someone who was watching me outside the house too was almost too much. Bella doesn't have any problem with dealing with this sort of thing but here I was freaking out and she had to try to make me feel better again. Not that I minded that part so much but I was pretty embarrassed about it.

Rosalie suggested a beer and a movie to break the tension which I was grateful for. The movie was Bella's choice since she won the card game and that's when I found out about her crush on Hugh Grant. I couldn't help but feel slightly jealous but I couldn't help it. Stupid, I know.

In the morning after I realized that we did indeed spent the night I hoped that Bella wasn't too uncomfortable with it. She didn't seem to be and that was re-assuring. She made us breakfast and after we couldn't put it off anymore Bella suggested that we should go to the house.

She wanted to go in alone and I wasn't comfortable with that. But she won that argument and went it alone anyway. When the door slammed shut and I couldn't get it in at first it really scared me. I didn't know what was happening to Bella and that worried me more than anything.

All of the sudden the door opened itself and I was able to get to her. She seemed a little shaken up and so I drove us back to her house. I noticed that she had closed her eyes and didn't realize that we had stopped. We sat like that for several minutes before I let her know that we were at her house.

Bella told me what had happened. It was a lot to take in. She took our plates to the kitchen when I heard her answering machine. Someone needed her help and offered to pay her extra for it.

I felt like such an ass. I never even mentioned paying her before. Of course I would but I should have brought it up before.

"Bella I'm sorry. I should have said something before but I will pay you for your time."

"No Edward I want to help, I'm not expecting any payment." She said and I think she meant it but I couldn't let her do that.

"I insist Bella."

"I don't charge my friends for helping them." I was a little surprised, not that she wouldn't charge her friends but that she thought of me that way. I already felt that way about her obviously and I was really glad to hear her say that.

"I know we've just met, and I don't know you very well but….. I would like to consider you my friend Edward."

"I'd like that too, but I still want to pay you." I insisted.

"You can pay me by taking me out to dinner sometime." Whoa she was making this incredibly easy for me.

"How about tonight?" I didn't want to let the opportunity pass.

"I'm kidding Edward; you don't have to buy me dinner. I can pay for myself." _Not if I have anything to say about it._

"Bella I planned on asking you to dinner anyway and I already had every intention of paying." I informed her feeling a lot more confident now.

"Oh well, if that's the case how can I refuse." She said looking a bit embarrassed.

After a few hours we were on our way out the door when Alice called me the same time Rosalie pulled up. I could kick myself for answering the phone because somehow we got roped into a group dinner.

I let Bella know that this didn't count as our date. Yes I was feeling bold enough to call it that now. I hope I wasn't mis-reading her signals.

Everyone went back to Bella's house and we talked about things for a while and as much as I wanted to stay longer I knew it was time for us to go. Alice wanted us to stay with her but I knew we couldn't keep doing that and Bella did say she thought 'they' were gone for a least a while.

When we got back home we walked in cautiously. It did seem quiet and I felt myself relax a little.

"When it's quiet like this I feel so stupid." I told Emmett he gave me a puzzled look.

"What are you talking about? Why would you feel stupid?" he asked seriously.

"I don't know Em it's just that I feel like such a pussy for getting so upset over this. When nothing is happening I sort of wonder if it's not as bad as I'm making it out to be. Look at Bella; she doesn't seem upset by anything at all."

"Edward, you are not a pussy and you shouldn't feel stupid. Bella has been dealing with this stuff all of her life. This shit is scary as hell sometimes, I freak out too." That made me feel a little better but it still bothered me.

"So." Emmett started out changing the subject. "What's going on with you and Bella?"

"I'm not sure." I hedged.

"Oh come on its pretty clear something is."

"I like her of course and I'm beginning to think that she might be interested in me too." I felt my cheeks heat up. He raised his eyebrows at me giving me a 'duh' look. So I continued.

"I just hope I'm not reading her wrong." I told him and he started laughing.

"What?"

"Oh nothing, it's just that after you two feel asleep both of you gave pretty clear signs you were interested."

"What are you talking about?" I asked cautiously afraid of what he might say. I remembered my dream that night and it wasn't something that I would want anyone to know about especially Bella.

"Not a big deal, nothing worth repeating. There's no need to embarrass anyone so let's just drop it. Trust me. I shouldn't have said anything. You were both asleep….really no big deal." He changed the subject not allowing me to question him further.

"So anyway. Rosalie and I spent most of the night talking. She really is great." He told me most of what they talked about and she does sound pretty perfect for him. I was happy for him. He hasn't dated a whole lot after his last girlfriend broke his heart a little over a year ago.

We went to bed and actually slept in our own rooms instead of the living room. When I woke up I was surprised that it stayed quiet all night. I got up and took a quick shower. I needed to meet Bella early because she had her classes today.

When we got to the library we got right to work. It wasn't long before an article caught my eye. "Hey Bella, come check this out." She walked over and read over my shoulder.

"Oh Shit."

BPOV

"That's him Edward, that's the little boy." There was a picture of him next to the article.

_James Johnson Jr. was reported missing January 6, 1976. The six year old boy was outside playing and never returned home. His parents James and Victoria Johnson have no comment at this time. To date the search has been going on for 7 days and the Police have no leads_.

"So it was their son….what do you think happened to him?" he asked.

"I'm not sure, let's keep searching for more articles, there has to be more." Edward nodded and kept looking. I joined the search checking the dates with in a few weeks of the disappearance and found a few others.

I wasn't sure how to work these old machines very well and didn't know how to print anything so I just wrote down the most important pieces of information. Edward did the same and we exchanged information when we both had finished.

_Anonymous tips lead investigators to question if James Johnson Sr. was involved in his son's disappearance. Police obtain warrant to search the Johnson home and property._

_No one was formally charged but James Johnson Sr. was listed as a suspect and the Johnson's handyman Laurent Arnaud is considered a person of interest._

_James Johnson Sr., Victoria Johnson, and son Gregory Johnson were found shot to death in their home. An apparent murder-suicide. This comes just 2 days after the police close their son James Jr's case due to lack of information. The case had been filed as unsolved._

_Victoria and Gregory Johnson were both found to have been asleep when they were killed. The evidence was unmistakable that James Johnson Sr. had shot and killed them before turning the gun on himself. _

We left the library and drove home calling Alice and Jasper to have them meet us there. It wasn't a surprise to find Emmett already there with Rosalie. We told them everything that we found.

"So what do you think? Did James kill his son?" Emmett was the first to ask. That started everyone giving their opinions.

"Definitely a possibility, clearly he was unstable if he killed his wife and other son before killing himself."

"True but he didn't do it until after the case was closed and labeled unsolved maybe he snapped after the fact."

"But if he didn't kill him too why would Jr. be afraid to come close to the house? Didn't he stay a few blocks away waiting for you to come out? He must be afraid of something."

"That's right, and didn't Leah say that fear was his most overpowering emotion?"

"But the handyman was a 'person of interest', maybe he did it."

"Yeah but so was James."

"Did they ever find the body?"

"I don't know, maybe that's why the boy is sticking around. He wants the case to be solved before he crosses over."

"Okay but let's say his father did do this, would it really matter now? I mean he's dead too."

"Maybe his parents haven't crossed over yet because they are still 'searching' for him. What if he doesn't want to cross over because they are stuck in the house?"

"But wouldn't Jr. just go to the house then and show his parents where he is? Then they could all be together."

"Unless he is afraid to go to the house which would lead us back to James being the one who did it."

"So then why are James and Victoria still here? Wouldn't they have crossed by now?"

"Victoria is most likely still waiting for her son to come home and she isn't ready to go yet."

"Well regardless if James was the one to kill him or not I still need to find out what Jr. wants me to do and then maybe that will help getting his parents and brother out of the house. I'm going to call Detective Weber with this knew information and see if she can tell me anything."

"Will she share that with you though?"

"It's worth a try at least."

"It would make things a lot easier if Jr. would just talk to you."

"It definitely would but if he can't at least we know that his parents have no trouble doing so. I'm going back tonight and see if I can find out something more."

"Absolutely not!" I like that Edward was being protective of me but he needs to understand that this is necessary as well as the point in asking for my help.

"Edward, I have to. There is no other way. They need to move on and leave your house for everybody's sake."

"What if he's dangerous?"

"I'll be fine."

"That's not what I asked." The phone rang then and I was saved by the bell so to speak.

I jumped up to answer it. It was my mom and I wasn't in the mood.

"Mom, I don't have time to talk right now. I'm going to have to call you back." I said as I looked at the clock. I'd almost forgotten about my class today and had just enough time to make it.

"I have to go guys, I have class today." I said quickly grabbing my purse and keys. "I'll see you later." I said walking out the door. Edward was right behind me. I turned to face him when we got to my truck.

"We're not finished discussing this you know." He said hugging me tightly.

"I know, I'm going to call Detective Weber and she if she will meet me today so I might be a little late." I told him and I could swear I felt him kiss the top of my head.

"Okay, will you call me when you get back?" he asked releasing me.

"Yes, I'll see you later." I didn't have anytime before class but I was able to call in-between classes.

"Detective Weber? This is Bella Swan, I was wondering if you would have a chance to meet with me today?"

"Of course Miss Swan when is the best time for you?"

"Is 5:00 too late?"

"That will be fine. I'll see you then." The rest of the day was slow but finally it was time to leave and I arrived shortly after.

"Have a seat." She gestured to the one across from her desk. "What can I do for you?"

"I was able to figure out who the boy is that I have been seeing. His name is James Johnson Jr. and he was listed as a missing person in January 1976. He was six at the time and I believe he was murdered."

Detective Weber turned around in her chair and opened up a drawer in her filing cabinet. After a few minutes she pulled out a file and set it on her desk.

"What else do you know?" she asked. I handed her a list of my notes from this morning and she looked them over. I also told her about my run in with James at the house.

"Alright Miss Swan."

"Bella." I interrupted her and she smiled.

"Bella, I'm going to show you what we have on this case." She handed the file over to me.

"I'm doing this because this case is officially closed and we haven't been able to positively link it to the boy we found. I believe they are one in the same and maybe you will be able to provide a link and we can get this solved."

I started to read some statements that were taken from what looked like neighbors and family members.

'_I don't know what to say. The Johnson's were always a little strange but they have been quiet neighbors. I never would have suspected them capable of murder.' --- Fred Smith next door neighbor._

'_People need to stop pointing their fingers at the Johnson's and give a closer look to the handy man. There's something very wrong with him. He killed the family dog.' – Juliet Mitchells best friend to Victoria Johnson._

'_I can't believe that my brother had anything to do with this, they have hired private investigators to find their son, James dedicates all his time to the search and has quit his job to do so.' --- Kate Johnson Phillips sister_

'_They never did find his body, how can they claim he was murdered? I know my brother, he wouldn't have done it'--- Jonathan Johnson – brother_

There was also a profile on Laurent Arnaud……Handyman started working on the Johnson property November 1975. No previous employer listed. Appears he was a drifter.

Evidence suggests that a shallow grave was dug on the property. The family denies any wrong doing and has no further comment. The hired handyman Laurent Arnaud claims it was to bury a family pet. Investigation finds that said animal bones were found.

There wasn't much more in the file and I closed it looking back at Detective Weber. She looked at me in concern and took a deep breathe before asking me her next question.

"When you see James Jr. is he…….I mean does he show any signs of injury?"

"None besides the dirt pouring from his mouth." I told her. Clearly she was debating whether or not to tell me something.

"The bones that we found were of a young boy, approximately age 6. We were able to determine that they have been there for about 30 years. One of the reasons we haven't been able to identify who it is…..is because the skull was missing. We have no dental records to compare to."

That surprised me. Jr. had not shown any sign of an injury like that. I was wondering if it was the same boy or not. Unless of course he was already dead before that happened.

"Can you tell me where the bones where found?" I asked.

"No Bella, I probably shouldn't have told you as much as I have but I really want to solve this case. I'm sure you are still aware of your confidentiality agreement?"

"Yes, of course."

"If you find out anything else, please let me know."

"I will, thank you Detective Weber."

"Angela." She smiled.

As I drove home I knew I was going to have to find a way to convince Edward that me staying at his house would be a good idea. I knew he was opposed to it but I really didn't see any other way. I wanted to try and talk with Victoria and Gregory without James but I knew that would be almost impossible.

I got home and no one was there. Rosalie left a note saying that she and Emmett went out to dinner and that Edward was going to go to Alice's for a while. I packed an overnight bad and took a shower since I hadn't had one yet today. I called Edward to tell him I was back.

"Hey Edward." I said when he answered right away.

"Are you at home?" he asked.

"Yeah but not for long, I'm going to head over to your place. Are you at Alice's?" His heavy sigh showed his displeasure.

"Yes, I am but if you are going to insist on coming back to the house I will meet you there."

We both pulled up 20 minutes later. As soon as I walked in I noticed that no one else was there that shouldn't have been or at least no one that was going to show themselves to me. I saw Edward staring at my bag as I put it down next to the door.

"Planning on staying for awhile?" he said in a somewhat joking manner.

"If you don't mind having me here." I smiled at him wondering what he was thinking as he suddenly had a smirk on his face.

"I don't mind at all Bella, so……..um is there anyone around?" he asked looking around the room the smirk on his face faded.

"No, at least no one is letting me know they're here. We might be in for an uneventful night."

"That would be welcome." He said and then I heard him mumble something like 'but having you here isn't uneventful' but maybe I was only hearing what I wanted to. It wouldn't be the first time.

The rest of the night was spent just getting to know each other. It was nice having some alone time with him and learning more about him. The more he told me the more I liked him. My attraction to him was obvious but he really was a good person. I admired how close he and his family were.

Edward had offered me his bed and opted to sleep in the recliner in his room. Of course I felt bad about that but he wouldn't hear of it. He refused to let me sleep anywhere but a bed and he didn't know when Emmett was coming home so he didn't want to take his bed.

Even though it was pretty clear Emmett wasn't coming home tonight since it was nearly 3:00 in the morning but I think it had more to do with the fact that he didn't want to leave me alone.

I reluctantly agreed and had barley drifted off to sleep when I was awoken to the sounds of crying. I looked over at the clock and it was 3:15am. I sat up and I could tell by the light snoring that Edward was asleep. I got out of bed and walked out into the hall.

I could hear the muffled sounds of Victoria coming from what I assumed was Emmett's room. I walked across the hall and the door was slightly ajar. In the corner I could see that Victoria was rocking Gregory in her arms and James was knelt down beside them.

The all turned to look up at me but this time there was no anger in James's face. His eyebrows furrowed and he looked back to his wife and ignored me. I was about to take the opportunity to ask them some questions but I didn't get the chance.

The phone rang causing me to jump and when I looked back they were gone. I heard Edward get up and answer it before calling my name.

"Bella?" I looked over to see Edward standing in the hallway confused by my whereabouts.

"Sorry Edward." He shook his head and handed me the phone. It took me a minute to figure out that someone had called for me on Edwards phone. That could only be one person.

"Rose?"

"Sorry to bother you Bella." she sounded a little out of breath.

"What's wrong?" This was very unlike her; she wouldn't call me in the middle of the night for no reason.

"Nothing's wrong. But um, could you…..I mean would you mind coming home?"

"Not at all, I'll be right there." I hung up the phone and Edward looked at me questioningly.

"Is everything okay?" he asked.

"I'm not sure but Rose asked me to come home." I grabbed my clothes and got dressed in the bathroom. When I came out Edward was also dressed.

"Let's go." he said putting his hand on the small of my back leading me out of the room.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer" I do not own twilight

Chapter 11

BPOV

Edward was locking the front door and my mind was racing through all sorts of possibilities for the reason why Rosalie called. She said nothing was wrong but how could that be if she needed me to come home.

My first thought was something happened between her and Emmett. I knew they were spending the evening together but it appeared Emmett was still there unless he was on his way home now. But it just didn't seem like that was it; there was no sadness in her voice.

"What do you think is going on?" Edward asked as we backed out of the driveway. "I'm not sure; I'm not coming up with much." I told him.

"I hope something didn't go wrong with Emmett, I know how much he likes her." Edward was paying attention to the road so I could only stare at the side of his face. He looked a little worried.

"I don't think that's it." I said as my mind wandered to other possibilities. More likely possibilities but I wasn't going to voice them yet. When we pulled up to the curb it was easy to see that most of the lights in the house were on.

As Edward and I walked in the front door we saw Rosalie sitting on Emmett's lap as he was rubbing small circles on her back. They both looked up at the same time.

"What happened?" I asked right away. I looked around the room looking for the source of the problem but couldn't see anything.

"Something was here." Emmett answered first. Edward froze for a second before he regained control.

"Something?" he asked.

"Something or someone maybe, I'm not sure what it was exactly." Emmett said. "We had been watching a movie on the couch and fell asleep. I woke up when I heard something that sounded a lot like scratching." He paused looking behind him.

"It sounded like an animal or something and it was right next to us. I thought maybe it was something outside so I got up to look out the window. That's when I realized the sound was coming from inside the wall behind me. I turned around and saw a shadow I guess." He looked to the wall again.

"Emmett woke me up then and I saw it too. It didn't have any features that could be made out or anything but it was as tall as a man would be. It stood there almost like it was starting at us. We didn't move and it started to move closer until it was right in front of us." Rose stopped and looked at Emmett who had a worried look on his face.

"It changed directions and went through the wall." She indicated to the wall she was talking about.

"And the smell, it was awful Bella; I've never experienced anything like it before." Emmett added and Rosalie looked deep in thought. I wondered if she was thinking the same thing I was remembering back to some of the classes we took in college.

I got up and Edward followed me. I checked out each room of the house to see if I could see anyone but came up with nothing but I had a very bad feeling about this.

I sighed heavily. Not wanting to confront what I was pretty sure this was. I was too tired at the moment especially since we had only just gotten to sleep not long before Rose had called.

"Let's all try and get some sleep and we can talk about this in the morning." I said just wanting to put it off for a little while. Rosalie and Emmett got up and started for Rose's room as they said their goodnights.

Edward just looked at me silently questioning if he should stay on the couch. I grabbed his hand and led him to my room. He didn't protest like I thought he might. I wasn't sure if this was inappropriate but I just couldn't bring myself to care.

It felt right. I felt very close to him already. It might be just because of these somewhat extreme circumstances we're dealing with, or it could be something else but it's like I've known him for forever.

I changed into sweats and was glad that Edward was already wearing his. We climbed into bed without saying another word.

He laid on his side facing me and our faces were nearly touching. We stared at each other for several minutes before he reached over and brushed some hair out of my face.

It almost seemed like he was going to kiss me and I was really hoping he would. I waited for what seemed like a lifetime before he started to slowly move closer to me. He kept his eyes on mine the entire time as if he was waiting for me to object.

Finally his lips pressed against mine. I've never felt anything so incredible before. Never had a kiss made me feel so alive. He pulled back to see my face better as he smiled. His thumb brushing back and forth across my cheek.

I wanted him to do it again but I wasn't sure if he was going to or not so I leaned forward and kissed him. This time it was a little more passionate and I felt his tongue slip into my mouth as he deepened the kiss.

He tasted so amazing I never wanted it to stop. We kissed for a while before he pulled me to him so I was now lying on his chest and his arms were wrapped around me.

"Goodnight Bella." he said kissing the top of my head. I smiled as he ran his hands up and down my arm.

"Goodnight Edward." And I kissed his chest and drew circles on his stomach with my fingers until I fell asleep.

The next morning I woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs and Edward was not in my bed. I got up and brushed my teeth and pulled my hair back into a pony tail before heading into the kitchen.

I heard Rose and Edward talking but not Emmett so I assumed he was still asleep. I walked around the corner and saw Rose at the stove and Edward was getting some juice out of the fridge.

"Good morning." I said and they both turned to look at me. Edward's face lit up and he practically ran over to me.

"Good morning beautiful." He mumbled as he kissed me. I was glad that he hadn't changed his mind since last night or I guess technically this morning. Not that I necessarily thought he would but based on my previous experience it wouldn't have surprised me.

"Good morning." Rose said quirking an eyebrow at me. I didn't say anything more but I couldn't keep the smile off my face as I got some plates out of the cupboard.

"Are you going to wake Emmett up?" I asked just before he walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning everyone." He said. We all sat down to eat and I wanted to put off any sort of discussion of last nights events. I wasn't ready to share my opinion yet because if I was right it wasn't good. I didn't need to scare everyone quite yet.

I wouldn't know for sure until I experienced it myself but my gut told me what I needed to know. Whatever was here last night was dark. But I did tell them about how I saw James and Victoria and they were all surprised to find out that James didn't seem aggressive.

"I know you have to work tomorrow but would it be okay if I spent the night at your house again Edward?" I asked knowing that we needed to get things figured out as soon as possible.

"Um, yeah that would be fine." He said but his expression was unreadable. Emmett's however was not. It was pretty clear that he was worried about the situation. He was just watching Rose. His eyebrows furrowed as he began to speak.

"Since whatever this is seems to have followed us over here I don't think it would be a good idea to leave Rosie here alone. So would you mind if I stayed here with you tonight?"

I heard Rose answer him but I was too focused on Edward's face to really pay attention to what she said. He looked like he was about to be sick. His eyes met mine and his expression was panicked.

"So it…..followed us here?" Edward was barely whispering as this realization just sunk in. He stood up and walked over to the window before turning back to me.

"Bella, I am so so so sorry." He almost looked like he was going to cry. I walked over to him and hugged him tightly.

"Edward you have nothing to be sorry for."

"Yes I do, if I had never come to you, this thing wouldn't have come here. You wouldn't have to be dealing with any of this." His eyes looked remorseful.

"That's not true Edward."

"Yes it is." He answered immediately. I grabbed his face between my hands.

"Listen to me, I was involved in this before you were. I had been seeing Jr. weeks before I met you not to mention the dreams I had about you." My eyes pleading with him to understand this wasn't his fault.

"What dreams?" he squeaked out.

"Sometimes I have precognitive dreams, I saw your eyes months ago. As soon as I saw you in my classroom I knew who you were. This was going to happen whether or not you found me. Jr. was going to make sure I was involved one way or another." I paused to make sure he was really listening to me.

"It just so happened that you were the one to buy that house and not someone else. I would have to deal with this no matter what." We stared at each other for a while and Edward moved closer as he rested his forehead against mine. His breathing slowed a little and he wrapped his arms around me holding me close to him.

I noticed that Rose and Emmett left the kitchen to give us some privacy. We stood that way for several minutes before Edward's cell phone rang startling us both. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the screen.

He didn't answer it, instead he pushed ignore and put it back in his pocket. A minute later it beeped again indicating that he had voicemail. He was about to say something when we heard Emmett answer his now ringing phone.

"Hey mom, what's up?" he said trying to sound upbeat. He paused for a minute obviously while his mother was talking.

"Everything's fine……..I'm not sure now is the best time for a visit………..Well Edward is working quite a bit……….I'm pretty busy too mom……..I know, we miss you

too……..yes but………no but………..look mom, I'll have to get back to you…….I'm sure Edward will call you back when he can………I have to go mom……….I love you too……..Bye."

He walked back into the kitchen shaking his head. "Now I see why you didn't answer your phone." He said to Edward.

"We're going to have to come up with some excuse; we really can't have them coming here now." Emmett continued.

"I know, I'll call dad later maybe he can stall or something." Edward said. It was pretty late in the afternoon since we slept most of the day. We all went over to Edwards and Emmett got his stuff that he would need for work and he and Rosalie went back to our house leaving me and Edward alone.

The house was pretty quiet for the moment. So we were sitting on the couch when Edward grabbed my feet and started to rub them. "I have to be at work early tomorrow." He said a little warily.

"That's fine, I can either stay here or go home which ever you're more comfortable with." He looked sullen for a minute before answering.

"I guess it doesn't really matter where you go since this thing can follow you." I wasn't sure how to answer that so I didn't. I just took his hand and held it tightly. He put my feet down and pulled me closer to him.

"I can take some time off of work, that way you won't have to be alone."

"As sweet as that is, there is no need to take anytime off work. I'll be fine Edward. Please try not to worry."

"Easy for you to say." He mumbled.

"It would be better if I could stay here. I really need to be able to talk with James and Victoria; the sooner we can get this figured out the sooner we can move on with our lives."

I noticed Edward smiled slightly at that. After dinner we went up to bed. We were emotionally worn out and even though we slept in we were both pretty tired. I climbed into bed while Edward took a shower.

I almost fell asleep but then he stepped out of the bathroom with only pajama bottoms on and I couldn't keep my eyes off his chest. I think I may have drooled a little. He crawled into bed without putting a shirt on.

I wondered if he did that on purpose. I looked up to see him smirk slightly and I knew the answer. Yes, yes he did. I had a hard time keeping my hands off of him.

Like last night, Edward kissed me again. If possible it was even better this time. He got a little braver as his hands wandered under my shirt. As they neared my breasts I was getting excited and I could feel Edward getting excited too. Unfortunately for me he didn't go any further than that which I was not too happy about.

It has been a long time since I have been with a man in any physical way so I really wanted him to move a little faster but at the same time I didn't want to ruin anything by moving too fast. I had to keep in mind that yesterday was the first time we kissed so having sex today probably wouldn't be the best idea. _So not fair_.

I sighed internally and we fell asleep the same way we did before, Edward holding me while I rested my head on his chest.

For the second night in a row I was awoken just after three in the morning to the sounds of Victoria crying. I got out of bed as carefully as I could as to not wake Edward. I made my way across the hall to find Victoria and Gregory alone.

They noticed me right away and Victoria almost cringed back when I took a step forward. She was watching me very closely. I didn't want to frighten her so I stopped when I got half way across the room.

"Victoria? My name is Bella. I'm here to help you." She kept her eyes on me as did her son.

"You have to leave before he comes back." She said almost frightened.

"Before who comes back?" I asked needing clarification.

"He'll be back soon. It's not safe here." she started rocking her son again.

"James? Is that who you are talking about?" She didn't say anything but kept her eyes on me. I continued hoping she wouldn't disappear on me.

"Are you afraid of James? Has he hurt you?" I asked.

"I thought I told you to get out." I heard James speaking from the doorway behind me. I turned to look at him he was back to being upset again but not quite the same rage as the first time I met him.

"I just want to help you." I told them.

"You can't help us." He said almost resigned as he walked by me on his way to Victoria.

"I think I can……I…..I know about your son James Jr." Victoria's eyes widened. Gregory's head snapped up to look at me and James glared at me.

"Where is he?" Victoria asked at the same time James said "You don't know anything."

"I've seen him, he wants my help but I don't know how….he won't talk to me. Do you know what happened to him?"

"I didn't _do_ anything." I could barely hear James's statement as he was looking at the ground. "We've looked everywhere." He said shaking his head back and forth. Victoria started crying again only to be silenced by a loud boom.

"You have to go, he'll find you here. It's not safe." She told me as they disappeared. I expected to be confronted with the shadow man that Emmett and Rosalie told us about last night but there was nothing.

Nothing happened. That was almost just as upsetting. He was here I could tell but this was something different something I haven't experienced before. I tried to listen hoping I would be able to hear something.

He was purposely keeping his distance from me…….for now. I couldn't hear or see anything other than Edward. The noise woke him up and I almost ran into him in the hall.

"Are you okay?" he asked franticly.

"I'm fine; we'll talk about it tomorrow." I could tell he wanted me to tell him about it now but he didn't push it and just led me back to bed.

All too soon his alarm went off and he got up and dressed for work. "Do you want to go out to breakfast with me?" he asked.

"No, if you don't mind I think I will sleep in a little longer." I smiled at him hoping he would just leave it at that. I wasn't going to bring up the fact I wanted more time to see if I could talk with Victoria again.

I knew I wasn't fooling him when his eyes narrowed at me briefly before he sighed.

"Okay, but will you please please call me soon?" he practically begged.

"Yes, I promise." I said as he leaned down to kiss me. I averted my lips since I hadn't brushed my teeth yet.

"Sorry, not until I've brushed my teeth." I told him. He looked a little disappointed but opted for my forehead this time.

I tried to fall back asleep but I couldn't. I got up shortly after Edward left and looked around the house more carefully still not finding anything.

I decided to go out into the yard remembering not only what Detective Weber had let me read in the files but what Edward told me about the property behind the fence. I was disappointed to find that the gate was no longer there so I found a ladder in Edward's garage and used it so I could see over the top.

To my surprise about 30 feet away I spotted Jr. He stood there staring at me for a moment before turning around. I climbed up on the ladder a little higher as he looked over his shoulder almost to see if I was coming or not.

I swung my feet over the fence and hopped down. I scraped up my legs a little and even though the fence wasn't that high I fell to the ground when I landed. I got up quickly hoping that I didn't lose sight of him.

He was still waiting for me and I followed after him. We were going deeper into the wooded area not sticking to the overgrown path and I was hoping that I wouldn't get lost. It wasn't like it was a forest or anything but I was starting to worry a little.

The faster I went the faster he went, still peeking over his shoulder to make sure I was still there. Finally he stopped. He was standing near an old fir tree near some rocks and pointed down to the ground.

I watched him as he looked up at me again. The look on his face was very intense before the dirt poured from his mouth again. This was it. I looked around and this was the same place I had been before in my dreams.

As I walked over to where he was standing he disappeared. The rocks were fairly large the size of a basketball I'd guess, arranged in a sort of circle. I looked around for something I could use to dig with but I could only find some sticks.

I did the best I could with what I had and after a while I was able to use my hands to move the dirt out of the way. I was digging for what could have easily been hours. I knew better. I knew in the back of my mind what I would find here but I couldn't seem to stop myself.

I was so focused on digging that I didn't even realize it when my progress virtually stopped and my knuckles where scraping up against something hard enough to make them bleed. It wasn't until I looked closer when I saw the round shape of a skull that made me leap back and empty all contents of my stomach into a nearby bush.

I fell to my knees and sobbed. It took me several minutes before I could get up. Finally standing I pulled my phone out of my back pocket. Of course I didn't get a signal out here. I looked around carefully at my surroundings to make sure I would be able to find this place again.

I started walking back the way I came holding my phone up as I went hoping I could find a place so I could call Detective Weber. About 30 yards away I was able to make my call.

The phone rang a few times and I was worried that I was going to get voice mail.

"Weber." She answered.

"Oh thank goodness. Detective Weber this is Bella Swan. I've found something, I need you to get here right away." I hoped I was speaking clearly enough for her to understand me as I was breathing so heavily.

"What did you find?" she asked.

"Bones……a skull."

"Where are you?" she asked and I gave her Edwards address and explained the best I could how to find me. I wasn't sure if I should wait here or get back to where I was before. I decided on here in case she needed to call me.

I was about to call Edward, I really just needed him with me or to at least to be able to hear his voice. It was then I noticed I'd lost the signal that I had so I walked back to where I had found….I tried not to finish that thought but failed miserably.

I waited and waited. The wind picked up and it started raining. What was taking so long?

Finally I could hear my name being called. It was Detective Weber. I called out to her and I could tell she was getting closer and closer.

Not long after that I spotted her along with another officer. Detective Weber started roping off the area while the other officer took out a camera. I watched as he took picture after picture of the entire area.

After he was finished he walked over to where Detective Weber was standing.

"Huh." I heard him say.

"What is it?" Angela asked quietly.

"Did you notice that the rocks are in the shape of a pentagram?" he said. I felt sick again. The officer called on his radio for the forensics team to come in while Angela directed me away from the area.

"Bella, I'm going to need you to come to the station so we can get a statement from you okay?" she asked concerned.

"No problem when do you need me?"

"I'm going to stick around here until they are finished and then I will call you. Do you want me to have an officer escort you back?" I didn't want to take anyone away from the investigation but I didn't really want to walk back alone either.

"Sure, thanks." She smiled at me and called for another officer.

"Ben, can you walk Miss Swan back to the house?"

"No problem." He smiled at me and we walked mostly in silence until we made it back to Edward's yard. I checked my phone and saw that I had 5 messages from him waiting for me.

I was about to call him and apologize for not calling him sooner when I heard Alice call my name. I looked up to see her running towards me.

"Bella, are you okay?"


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight

Chapter 12

EPOV

I really didn't want to leave Bella this morning. It went against my better judgment but I also knew that no matter where she was this thing could follow her. I made her promise to call me soon so I didn't worry all day.

I arrived at work 7:00am. I had a hard time focusing on anything. At first there wasn't much going on so I pretty much had my eyes glued to the clock. She said she was going back to sleep so I didn't want to call yet.

By nine o'clock I couldn't take it anymore. I paced back and forth as the phone continued to ring. I got her voicemail and left her a message to call me back. I guess it could be possible that she was still asleep.

Things picked up at work and I was busy enough that I didn't have much time to worry about anything else. Ten thirty rolled around and I called her again. I was getting an uneasy feeling when I got her voice mail for the second time.

I called again 45 minutes later. Still no answer. I tried the home phone thinking maybe she just didn't hear her cell. It did me no good as the machine picked up. What could be going on?

I called her home phone thinking she could have gone home only to get the same result. I was seriously considering going home just to see what was happening. I knew something had to be or else she would have called me right?

Just then the ER got slammed there was a 5 car pile up on the freeway. After everyone was stable I called again but leaving now wasn't an option. By two o'clock and no word from Bella I called Alice.

"Alice, it's me. Are you at home?" I asked. She seemed to take Monday's as her work from home day and I was hoping today was the same.

"Yeah, what's going on Edward?" she was clearly concerned. I told her what had happened last night and how I hadn't heard from Bella yet today. I didn't even have the chance to ask her before she offered.

"I'm going to head over there now. I'll call you when I get there." She said and could hear her shut the door.

"Thank you so much Ali, I'm really worried." I still wanted to go myself but at least Alice would be calling me soon to let me know what was going on.

"No problem, I'll call you soon." She said starting the motor to her car. She hung up and I couldn't do anything but wait. What seemed like a lifetime later my phone rang. I didn't bother looking to see who it was I just answered right away.

"I'm so sorry Edward, I didn't mean to worry you." I sighed in relief when I heard Bella's voice.

"Are you okay?" that was all that really mattered anyway.

"I'm fine, really. Something happened and I wasn't able to call you. Nothing bad I promise but long story short I was out in back of your house and couldn't get a signal."

"It's okay Bella; I was just worried about you."

"I'm going to head home now. Alice is going to come with me so why don't you come over after you get off work."

"I can try to get off now."

"No need Edward, you should stay at work. I promise everything's fine it can wait until you get here. Do you want to talk to Alice?"

"Sure." I was glad she offered I wanted to know Alice's take on things.

"Hey Edward." She sounded calm enough.

"Hey Alice is everything really okay or should I get off of work early?"

"Its fine really Edward, just come over after work okay?"

"Okay, thanks for going over there Ali."

"Like I said no problem. I'll see you soon, love you."

"Love you too." I was able to get through the rest of the day somewhat relaxed.

I pulled up across the street from Bella's house as I spotted her standing near her front door hugging a rather large man. I watched for a minute as he kissed her on the cheek before she turned around to go back inside.

Who is this guy? I was feeling a little sick as I got out of my car and started walking up her driveway. The man was walking towards his car when he spotted me.

He smiled but I couldn't bring myself to do the same. I wanted to know who he was first.

"Hi, I'm Jake. You must be Edward." He said extending his hand to me. I took it feeling better that he at least knew about me.

"Yes, I am." I said shaking his hand. He chuckled a little.

"I'm Bella's best friend." He said smirking slightly.

"I'm Bella's……uh." I said feeling stupid not knowing what to say. That caused him to laugh.

"No need to explain, I know all about that awkward stage of the undefined relationship as my wife likes to call it."

His wife? I smiled automatically at that.

"Uh thanks." I felt the warmth on my face.

"I wish I could stay but I really need to get going, it was nice meeting you Edward."

"Nice meeting you too Jake." I could say that now. He smiled shaking his head slightly. I continued to walk up to the door as I heard him drive away.

I barely had time to knock before the door opened. Bella was standing there expectantly and she gave me a hug before pulling me into the living room.

BPOV

After I explained everything to Alice and got her calmed down I called Edward. I was glad to see that he wasn't angry he was just worried about me. I invited Alice over and she followed me to my house.

The next few hours I got a chance to get to know Alice better. She really is a nice person and it is clear how much she loves her brothers. I was really glad for this opportunity; it was nice spending time with her. I could tell that we were going to be friends even outside of Edward.

It was nearing five o'clock when the phone rang. It was Leah.

"Hi Leah, how are you feeling?"

"Oh Bella, I can't take this much longer. I'm a week over due. I already started my maternity leave thinking she would have been born by her due date and the waiting is driving me crazy."

"You sound miserable."

"Is it okay if I come over? I just really need to get out of the house."

"I don't mind but should you be driving?"

"No.......Fine, I'll have Jake drive me when he gets home."

"Okay, but I have to warn you that there have been more things going on, a lot worse than before, are you sure you want to be around this right now?"

"I'll be fine, and maybe I can help. Please Bella, I can't take Jake's hovering. I'm about ready to knock him upside the head."

"You can come over anytime."

"See ya later." 45 minutes later Leah and Jake showed up. I introduced them to Alice.

"Alice Cullen this is Jake and Leah Black."

"Nice to meet you."

"So how did you two meet?" Leah asked.

"Alice and Edward came to one of my lectures; um they have been experiencing some disturbances."

"Edward is your husband?" Jake asked Alice.

"No, Edward is my brother." She looked over to me and smiled as I blushed.

"Are you blushing Bella?" Jake was teasing me.

"What? No! why would I be blushing?"

"You tell me. Is there something you'd like to share with us?" Everyone's eyes were on me.

"Ummm, not really."

"Uh huh….I think Bella's got herself a new boyfriend." He said in a sing song way as if he were still in grade school.

"We haven't been seeing each other long enough." I blurted out without thinking.

"So you're hoping he'll be your boyfriend then?" Jake wasn't letting this go. After a few more minutes of embarrassing questions and teasing comments Leah noticed my discomfort.

"Jake, I think it's time for you to go. Come back and get me later." I got up to walk him out. We stood by the door to say goodbye.

"You know I'm just teasing you Bells, I'm happy for you I hope it all works out." He said sincerely.

"Thanks Jake." I said giving him a hug and he kissed me on the cheek. I went back inside and got the three of us something to drink. I had just set them down on the table as I heard a knock at the door. I rushed over knowing it was Edward.

After hugging him, I took his hand and led him into the living room.

"Edward, this is Leah, Leah this is Edward." I introduced them.

"Nice to meet you Leah." Edward said and they smiled at each other.

"Nice meeting you too Edward, I'm sorry you just missed my husband Jake."

"Uh actually I got to meet him outside before he left." I frowned slightly I wasn't planning on leaving Edward alone with Jake at first in case he decided to go all Big Brother on me.

"Please don't tell me he gave you too bad of a time. I know he likes to fill in as Bella's brother and tries to be intimidating sometimes."

"Um no he didn't at all; he was very uh nice actually." Edward looked a little embarrassed. I hope Jake really did behave himself.

"Jake and I grew up together and I met Leah in college." I explained.

"Bella is the one responsible for us getting together actually." Leah said.

"That's great, how long have you been married?"

"A little over a year and this one is due any minute now." She said indicating to her stomach.

"Congratulations." Edward smiled and Leah was about to say something when I heard the kitchen door shut. I noticed that Leah heard it too, as we both looked in the same direction at the same time.

I saw Edward out of the corner of my eye, he looked between the two of us before looking at Alice who just shrugged.

"He's here." Leah whispered. I noticed that Alice had gotten up from her spot on the chair and moved to sit next to Edward.

I got up slowly and walked into full view of the kitchen. "James?" He looked at me a little stunned perhaps because I called him by his name.

Leah came closer slowly behind me but stayed farther back as she explained that he was still unsure about her.

"I need you to tell me why you're here, why haven't you crossed over yet?" He didn't say anything he just stared at me but shook his head. This was an improvement at least I could get him to communicate with yes or no answers.

"I dug in the spot you showed me, I think I found what you wanted me to see."

He nodded.

"Did someone hurt you?" This of course was obvious but he was still a child and I wasn't sure how much he remembered of that day. Again he nodded.

"Was it someone in your family?" This time he shook his head no.

"I've seen them you know; your mom and dad even your little brother. They're at your old house, did you know that they were there?" he didn't respond. "They died James, just like you did but they haven't crossed over yet."

Leah whispered "He's confused Bella." I sat down on the floor cross legged.

"James, you need to cross over. It's time for you to go into the light." He shook his head.

"Is there another reason why you're staying?.......is it your family?" This time the tears streaked down his cheeks.

"They're in the house James, we can go to them." He started shaking his head violently no.

"He's terrified." Leah scooted a little closer.

"Is there a reason you don't want to go back to the house?" he nodded. Clearly it wasn't his parents he's afraid of but what other reason could he have for being so scared to go back to the house. Maybe it was because that's where he was taken from. Then I remembered James and Victoria's warnings. They were also clearly scared of something else.

"Is it the shadow man?" I whispered. He started shaking and backing away.

"James, listen to me. The safest place for you is in the light. It's time for you to go. I will make sure to tell your parents where you are so they can find you but you have to go now if you don't then they will never leave that house."

I looked over to Leah. "He's unsure of what to do." She told me.

"Trust me James. You need to cross over now. I promise to help your parents find you but I have to know where you are in order to do that. It's time for you to go."

This time he agreed and soon after he crossed. I slumped against the wall and Leah exhaled loudly.

"What just happened?" I heard Rose ask. I hadn't even realized she or Emmett were even here. I got up from the floor while Edward helped Leah back to the couch.

I started at the beginning and told everyone what happened starting with last night and my talk with James and Victoria up until this point. I was exhausted mentally and physically.

"Wow." Emmett said rubbing his temples.

"So now what?" Alice asked.

"I need to talk to James and Victoria and try to convince them that it's their turn."

The phone rang loudly seemingly amplified by the recent silence. I got up to answer it and it was Detective Weber.

"Bella, I know it's late but I need your statement. Is there anyway you can come in now?"

"Yeah, that's fine I will be busy with classes tomorrow and I would like to get this over with as soon as possible."

We hung up and I could feel the tension building in my muscles. I just wanted to sleep for a few days.

"I have to go to the police station; I'll be back soon….. Hopefully."

"Do you want me to go with you?" Edward asked.

"No, I'll be fine. It's been a long day and you have to work tomorrow."

"Are you sure? I don't mind."

"I'm sure. They wouldn't let you in with me anyway."

"Okay, will you call me when you get home?" he asked as he walked me to the door. We stepped outside and I pulled it closed behind me.

"Yes." I stood on my tippy toes and gave him a kiss. I will never be able to get enough of those.

I got in my car as Jake was pulling up I gave him a quick wave before I drove to the station. When I got there Detective Weber was waiting for me. I gave my statement and she was pleased.

"Can you let me know if the skull belonged to James Jr. or not?" I asked hoping she would let me know the test results.

"Yes I will, thank you again Bella. We never would have found them without you."

"Them?"

"Uh….. Yes 'them' only one skull though but there were other bones found also. I'll let you know when and what I can."

"I understand, thank you."

When I got home everyone else was gone except for Rose and Alice.

"Hey ladies, what are you still doing up?" I asked barely awake myself.

"We're just getting to know each other better." Rose said smiling. I was glad to see that she also had a chance to spend some time with Alice.

"I'm glad to hear that, do you guys want some tea? I'm going to make some for myself."

"Yeah that sounds good right now thanks." Alice said. I sent Edward a text letting him know that I was home but Alice was still here and I was going to hang out with her for awhile.

He texted me back right away wishing me a good night and requesting that I call him in the morning. As soon as the tea was ready I sat down in the chair curling my feet up under me.

The three of us talked for another hour or so. We spent most of the time laughing and telling stories of our childhoods. Alice's were the most fun to hear about especially when they included Edward and Emmett.

"Well if you ever want to hear any embarrassing stories about my brothers let me know. I have a ton of them."

"That could come in handy." Rose said. "What's your favorite one about Emmett?" she asked.

"Well, I'd have to say that would be about Emmett's favorite doll Fudgie. He used to carry that thing around with him everywhere. It was hideous but he loved it. My mom still has it packed away for him somewhere he refused to get rid of it."

We all were laughing out loud when Alice's phone buzzed. She read the text and apparently Jasper was at her house wondering where she was.

"Sorry ladies but I have to go. Thanks for today both of you. I had a really great time getting to know you better; I hope we can do it again." She smiled.

"Absolutely! I had a great time too and thank you for checking up on me today." I told her. She hugged both me and Rose and we watched her as she got into her car.

"I'm beat." Rose said "I'm gonna go to bed."

"I'm gonna take a bath, I need to try and relax a little." I walked into the bathroom and turned on the water to hot. It didn't take long for it to fill up and I got in the water and closed my eyes.

I was getting pretty tired and I think I started to doze off a little. I heard the faucet turn on and my eyes popped open. I practically jumped out of the tub when I saw that it wasn't water coming out but what looked to be blood.

I screamed and something was pushing me down. I struggled to get up and I managed to gasp for air before it pushed me down again. This time it released me and I practically crawled out of the tub.

I could hear Rose banging on the door. I stood up quickly and saw in the mirror the blood on my face and hair. I reached for a towel as I tried to open the door.

Surprisingly the door opened easily and Rose rushed in.

"Are you okay? What's wrong? What happened?" she asked frantically. I couldn't talk until I wiped my face off.

I looked back up in the mirror and there was no blood. I quickly turned towards the tub and it was like nothing ever happened. I moved closer and turned the water on to find it was _only_ water. I stared for a moment wondering if I dreamed it all or not. I reached in and pulled the plug and let the water drain out. "Bella, you're scaring me. Did something happen?" she asked in a deliberate way.

"Blood, Rose there was blood coming from the faucet. And something tried to push me under the water."

"What was it?" she asked and I could see the panic in her eyes.

"I don't know."


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight

Chapter 13

I was still trying to catch my breath when Rose disappeared into my bedroom to get me my bathrobe. My hair was dripping wet and water was running down my face and neck. I was shaking, though I wasn't sure if it was due to me being scared or just cold, probably both.

"Come on let's sit down." I followed her to the couch turning on the lights along the way.

"Bella, tell me exactly what happened." Rose said as we sat down. I took a deep breath before I started.

"I was relaxing, my eyes were closed, and I think I even fell asleep at one point." I looked up from my lap. "I heard the water come on. Well I assumed it was water but the sound startled me and when I opened my eyes I saw that it was blood." Rosalie's focus was far away for a moment but she looked back to me and nodded.

"That's when I screamed and then something pushed me under the water. I didn't see a thing Rose. I was finally able to get up and catch my breath before it pushed me down again. It let me go and I climbed out of the tub."

"You had been asleep?" she asked and I knew what she was thinking. My dreams are always very vivid and like the time before when I couldn't breathe in my dream I woke up not being able to either.

"Yes I know I was dozing off at least. I don't think it was a dream though. When I got out of the tub I looked in the mirror and I was covered with blood. It wasn't until I opened the door to let you in that I looked again to see it was gone."

"And you didn't see anyone?" she asked cautiously.

"No, no one." I told her as she looked around. "This is something different Rose." She looked at me as if she was afraid to ask me what I thought it was.

"Do you think it is the same thing that was here before? The thing that Emmett and I saw?"

"Yes." I said and she closed her eyes.

"Since when can these things physically harm people? I mean I know they can move things and slam doors but shit Bella this thing could have drowned you." Her voice was getting louder and I could see the anger start to show on her face.

"I guess when they're strong enough to." I whispered thinking over what this could mean not only for me but for my friends. My thoughts went directly to Edward.

I noticed Rose started rubbing her temples much like Emmett. She looked up at me again and the fear was back in her eyes.

We were both quiet for a long time. A million thoughts went through my head. I need to find out what I'm up against.

"Do you mind?" Rose asked as she turned on the TV. I shook my head. "I just don't feel like going back to sleep yet."

"Me neither." After a while I noticed that she had fallen asleep. I covered her with a blanket and sat back down in the recliner. I didn't bother turning the lights off. It seemed silly to me knowing that lights would not detour this thing but it made me feel a little better anyway.

The sounds of Rosalie's alarm from her room woke me up. Surprised I didn't dream last night I got up and nudged Rose and told her she needed to get ready for work.

"I'm up." She mumbled with her eyes closed. She was not a morning person but then neither was I.

"I'll make breakfast while you take a shower." I said. Rosalie opened her eyes and yawned. She nodded slightly but then froze. She looked over at me in a panic.

"Its fine Rose, I think that whatever this thing is…..it is more than likely after me."

"That doesn't make me feel any better Bella." she said getting up and walking to the linen closet to get a towel. I took a quick look around just to make sure. As I was making breakfast I checked my phone for any messages.

Edward had already texted me and let me know he was on his way to work and to call him later. After Rosalie went to work I called him back.

"Good morning beautiful." I love the sound of his voice.

"Good morning handsome how is your day so far?"

"Pretty slow actually, do you have any plans for lunch?"

"Nope, I don't have anything special planned."

"Will you have time to meet me for lunch here? Or are you going to be too busy with classes?"

"I think I can make time for you. I have a free period between 11:30 and 1:00."

"Perfect, see you then." I was looking forward to meeting Edward. It was kind of ridiculous, even though I saw him yesterday and have pretty much seen him everyday since I met him. I couldn't deny the excitement I felt when I was driving over.

I texted him as I was walking into the lobby to let him know I was here. I sat down and waited for a minute before the receptionist asked if she could help me.

"No thank you, I'm just waiting for someone." She smiled at me. I heard someone clear their throat. I turned around expecting it to be Edward but it was someone else.

"Are you waiting for me by any chance?" I couldn't help the giggle that escaped my lips at the corny pick up line. I was about to answer but Edward beat me to it.

"No, she's waiting for me." He said while he gave me a not so quick kiss.

"Sorry Edward." The man said turning to me and taking my hand. "I hope I didn't offend you…."

"Bella." I finished his sentence.

"Bella…. I'm Paul." he said before he kissed my hand. I looked to Edward and noticed the glare he was giving him.

"Nice to meet you." I said

"You too." He turned to Edward and slapped him on his back. "You're a lucky man Edward, to have such a beautiful girlfriend." He said and I blushed.

"Yes I am." Edward answered taking my hand and leading us out the door and across the street to the sandwich shop.

"Sorry about that." He said his irritation showing through.

"It's fine Edward, not your fault." I smiled at him. We got in line and ordered our meals. Edward of course paid and we sat down in a nearby booth.

"Thank you for meeting me for lunch."

"Thank you for inviting me." He reached across the table and held my hand. It was a little awkward trying to eat with only one hand but I wasn't about to complain. We were caught up in our own world until I saw a hand wave back and forth in front of our faces.

I pulled back immediately to see a middle aged woman in scrubs laughing at us. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh but I've been trying to get your attention for the last five minutes."

"Oh, um s-sorry about that Dr. Greene." Edward stuttered and I noticed that he blushed a little.

"Don't be sorry Edward." She was still chuckling a little. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your girlfriend?"

"Dr. Greene this is Bella Swan, Bella this is my boss Dr. Greene." I smiled and shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you Dr. Greene."

"Nice to meet you as well Bella." She looked at her watch. "I better be getting back, I just wanted to say hello." She turned and left. It didn't escape my notice that that was the second time I had been referred to as Edward's girlfriend since I had gotten here.

I think Edward noticed too because he had tensed up a little when she said it and he ran his hands through his hair.

"I was going to wait for another time to bring this up but seeing as how the opportunity has presented itself….." he trailed off.

"I wanted to t-tell you s-something." I was surprised at how he was suddenly so nervous. He paused and I waited for him to continue.

"I know we haven't known each other very long." He paused again. "I feel like I've known you a lot longer than a week. The thing is…. uh….. Um I don't want to rush this or pressure you at all but I really like you Bella and well I just wanted to tell you that I'm not seeing anyone else. I don't know how you feel or if you are dating other people but I just wanted you to know that." He finally looked up at me still clearly nervous and was waiting for me to say something.

"I really like you too Edward and I'm not seeing anyone else either." I told him. His sudden smile was breathtaking. He was still holding my hand and he leaned forward to kiss me across the table.

"So how about we go out on a real date this weekend?" He asked, his confidence had returned.

"I'd love to Edward." His pager went off at that moment. He checked the message and stood up.

"I'm sorry I have to go. Can I see you later?" he asked.

"Yes, I was actually hoping I could come over later on." That seemed to remind him of the situation we both pushed aside for this afternoon. His eyebrows furrowed and he frowned for a second but quickly recovered.

We walked out the door and he kissed me goodbye and then jogged back across the street before disappearing into the hospital. I had time before my next class and so I scanned the school directory looking for the name of one of my old professors.

I found the name I was looking for and went to see if she was in today. Luck was with me and she happened to be here.

"Professor Cope?" I said as I walked in. She looked up and she recognized me.

"Bella Swan, how are you?"

"I'm doing well, and yourself?"

"Same as always, please have a seat." She motioned for me to sit down. "How can I help you?"

"I had a few questions for you."

"You were my best student, I didn't think there was anything you weren't familiar with in this field." She joked.

"Well maybe just this one thing. I must have been absent that day." I tried joking back but this wasn't a subject that got that much attention and now I wish I would have paid better attention during this class.

"I was wondering if you could expand a little on dark entities." Her demeanor changed rapidly.

"That isn't my specialty so to speak but I will try to answer your questions the best I can."

"I do remember that there are often 'signs' and I just wanted to make sure I remembered them correctly. I do remember that one of them was the horrible smells…….."

"Yes, and scratching in the walls among other things, but Bella these types of entities just don't appear. They usually have to be invited in."

"How exactly?"

"Ouija boards are one way. It's never a good idea to play with those. It creates a window to another realm and unfortunately there is no way to tell who or what could come through."

"That doesn't guarantee a dark entity will come in though."

"No but is it worth the risk? It would be like inviting a stranger into your home and just hoping that they aren't bad." I didn't really think that the Johnson's would have done this and I knew there were other ways.

"How else?"

"Well, people that get involved with dark magic, certain rituals, things like that could invite these things in….. Bella is there something going on?"

"Um….it's possible." I looked at my watch and realized that I was late for class.

"I'm sorry professor I have to go, I'm late for class but thank you so much for your help."

She frowned.

"Bella, I'm going to give you the names and number of my colleagues that deal with this sort of thing. If you need help please call them, I will let them know that we spoke." She said writing their number down on a post it.

"Thank you." I said as she handed me the note.

"Please be careful."

"I will professor." I hurried to my class. I made it through the next few hours trying to stay focused and did a poor job of it.

I had barely had time to get out of my truck when my phone rang. I expected it to be Edward and so I was a little surprised to see Emmett's name on the caller id.

"Hey Emmett."

"Hi Bella, are you home?"

"Actually I just pulled up."

"Great I'm picking up some pizza right now; I'll be there in a few minutes." It didn't even seem strange to me that he had invited himself over. I was glad he did, and I knew that he knew Rose was working late today and Edward wasn't going to be home for a while and it would be just the two of us.

"Sounds good, see you in a few." For the first time I was leery to walk into my own home. I had literally only a few minutes to look around before I heard Emmett knock on the door. I opened it to see him standing there with 3 pizzas and a case of beer.

"Hi ya sweetie." He gave me a one arm hug after setting the pizza's down on the table.

"I hope you invited some more people over, because there is no way we can finish off three pizzas."

"Speak for yourself." He chuckled. We talked for a while just getting to know each other better. It was nice and I could really see how perfect he and Rose were for each other.

"So how are things going between you and Edward?" he smirked.

"Really good actually." I couldn't keep the smile off my face and neither could he.

"I thought so; I've never seen my brother so happy before, even considering everything else going on."

"He makes me happy too, and speaking of which, you seem to be doing an incredible job making Rose happy."

"I hope so Bella, I've never felt like this before." His face fell just slightly. I raised one eyebrow at him questioningly.

"It's just well, I'm a little worried." I wasn't expecting to hear that.

"Why?"

"Well the other day Royce called and when she ignored it he kept calling back. So she told me about their relationship and everything that happened. I'm just a little worried that with their history that she might….well, give him another chance."

"Trust me when I say this, there is _no_ chance of that happening." He was still looking a little skeptical.

"Emmett before she even met you she had the chance to go back to him and she didn't take it. She's done, trust me. Not to mention there is no comparison between the two of you. I never cared much for him and he didn't treat her very well, and you are so good for her. She is so much more confident in herself now that she has you. Not to mention I happen to like you a lot."

"Really?"

"Yes really, I honestly can say that I've never met anyone better suited for Rose."

"Thank you Bella."

"Anytime." We talked for a while longer and after I couldn't stuff anymore food in I took the left over pizza and put it in the fridge. I had already had a few beers and wanted some water. I took a glass from the cupboard and was about to fill it up when I heard a car backfired outside.

It startled me and I screamed loudly dropping the glass. It shattered when it hit the floor. Emmett came bursting into the room.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just a little jumpy I guess."

"You sure? you seem shaken up." He started picking up the pieces of broken glass.

"I'm fine." He eyed me carefully not believing me completely. Once everything was cleaned up he asked again.

"Is there something going on? I've seen you more calm when there are ghosts in the room." Knowing I was going to tell him anyway I decided I might as well let him in on it.

"Well um yeah, something did happen last night. I had an encounter with the entity that you and Rose did except….well it may have attacked me." He looked at me stunned. His mouth hanging open and his eyes unfocused.

"Son of a….motherfuckin'……bastard" he was instantly pacing around the room still mumbling and throwing out curse words every few seconds.

I watched him as he walked back and forth. He stopped suddenly and came directly over to me and hugged me tightly.

"Are you okay?" I could feel his heart beat.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Have you told Edward?"

"No I haven't really had a chance to yet but I will." He pulled back from me and the rage was gone from Emmett's face and fear took over. We both looked in the direction of the door when we heard the doorbell.

I started for the door and Emmett walked with me keeping an arm around my shoulders. I opened the door and Edward instantly looked wary when he saw his brother's face. His arms were around me instantly.

"What happened?" Reluctantly I retold the story in detail to both of them. Neither one said anything for a while and I tried to make light of everything so they would relax even if it was only a little bit.

"I think it was just trying to scare me, really the whole thing couldn't have lasted more then a couple minutes."

"Do you know why this happened?" Emmett asked.

"My guess is that I pissed it off. I helped Jr. cross over and maybe it didn't like it. Maybe it's just the fact that I'm here at all and it doesn't want my presence.

"How are we going to find out? How are we going to fix this?" Edward asked.

"I think that right now the best thing to do is move forward. I need to talk to James and Victoria. They seemingly know about it maybe they can answer some questions. I think the sooner the better." I turned to Edward.

"Is it okay if I stay the night tonight?"

"I don't think I could sleep if you didn't." he said kissing my temple.

"Well, um actually I was thinking that it might be a good idea if the three of you stayed here tonight." To me it made perfect sense, that way they would at least be out of the line of fire so to speak.

"Nice try."

"It would be easier for me to do this on my own."

"Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do." Edward gave me a disapproving look.

"Really though, I wouldn't have to worry about you getting hurt. It will most likely stick with me."

"All the more reason why I'm not leaving you alone."

"I have to agree with Edward." Emmett said.

"Bella, I told you I'm not going anywhere. In fact I might be a little overbearingly close until we get rid of this problem."

As soon as Rose got home I followed Edward to his house. It was hard for me to go to sleep even though I was exhausted. I expected to hear Victoria in the middle of the night again but it didn't happen.

In fact the next two days were completely quiet. James and Victoria did not make an appearance. No one did and nothing happened.

Edward usually had Friday's off but he switched with someone at work and he was getting Monday off instead. A few hours after he had left for work I got a phone call from Detective Weber asking me to stop by. I got dressed and got there as soon as I could.

"Please have a seat." she gestured to the empty chair in front of her desk.

"Thank you."

"I wanted to talk to you a little more about the case if that's okay."

"How can I help?"

"I just wanted you to know that the skull did match James Johnson Jr.'s dental records." I nodded.

"The other bones were from animals." She added.

"Unfortunately we just don't have enough evidence to prove who the killer was." I realized that I had yet to talk with her since Jr. crossed over.

"I was able to speak to James Jr. again; he said that it was not anyone in his family."

"Oh?" her eyebrows shot up.

"He wasn't able to tell me who it was but when I asked him directly he indicated that it wasn't them."

"That's good to know. In fact…." She started writing down a phone number and handed it to me.

"We contacted James Jr.'s next of kin to let them know what we found. It was his aunt and she asked how we found him. I explained that we had some outside help. I didn't give her your name but she asked if you would be willing to give her a call. I didn't make any promises but I told her I would pass along the information. She has always been adamant that it was not her brother and so I'm sure she would love to talk with you and hear what you have to say."

"Thank you, I think I might have a few questions for her myself." I said taking the number. When I got back to my truck I pulled out my cell phone and called her.

"Hello, Mrs. Philips? My name is Bella Swan and I got your number from Detective Weber."

"Yes Mrs. Swan, please call me Kate."

"I understand you wanted to talk with me?"

"Yes, I was hoping to. If that's alright with you. I'm living in the Seattle area; do you have time to meet with me by chance?"

"Yes, of course."

"I'm sure you're a very busy woman so anytime you are available is fine with me."

"I'm available now, is that too soon?"

"Would it be too much trouble for you to come to my home? I'm afraid I don't drive anymore."

"That's fine, just give me your address and I can come over right away."

"Thank you Mrs. Swan I look forward to seeing you."

"Please call me Bella; I should be there in about 20 minutes."


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight

Chapter 14

BPOV

Traffic was pretty light and so it didn't take very long to get to Mrs. Phillips house. She lived in an older neighborhood but it was very nice. I pulled up in front and found an elderly woman sitting on the front porch. As I approached her she stood and greeted me.

"Mrs. Swan?" she asked smiling.

"Please call me Bella." We shook hands and she opened the screen door for me and gestured for me to go inside.

"Would you like something to drink? I have coffee or lemonade."

"Lemonade would be nice, thank you Mrs. Philips."

"Please Bella, call me Kate." She went into the kitchen and I looked around. There were a ton of pictures surrounding the room. I picked up one of James and his family. Victoria was pregnant and a smiling James had his arm wrapped around her back while Jr. sat on his lap.

"That's my favorite picture." I heard from behind me. I turned around and she had a sad smile on her face. I set it back down on the table and took a seat. She handed me my drink.

"It's lovely. They look very happy."

"They were." I could see her eyes filling up with tears. She cleared her throat and took a drink. She grabbed a photo album from the coffee table and moved to sit next to me.

The pictures she showed me were of James and Victoria's wedding, family get togethers, their house, but most of them were of their sons. It was easy to see how happy they were and how proud both James and Victoria were of their boys.

The last picture was of James Jr. alone on his birthday. He was blowing out the candles on his cake. Kate's fingers ran over his face and she sighed.

"He was the spitting image of his father at that age. My brother was so happy when he found out Vicki was pregnant. He couldn't keep the smile off his face. He was very devoted to her." She closed the album and set it down.

"That was their first house. James had gotten a promotion at work. I'll never forget that day. He came running in my front door calling my name, he was practically bouncing. I was so proud of him. He decided he wanted to surprise Victoria once he saved enough of the extra money so they could use it for a down payment."

She took off her glasses and wiped her eyes before taking another drink. "They moved in shortly after James Jr. was born. The house was big and they planned on having more children." Her eyes were focused on something far way. I didn't say anything I just waited for her to continue.

"When Gregory was born you wouldn't have been able to find anyone happier than my brother. He had the love of his life and two sons. He spent every minute with them that he could. Unfortunately his job started to get a little more demanding and he was putting in longer hours.

As a result the house was being neglected. They needed a new roof, part of the porch was rotting out, the fence was falling down, and quite a few smaller projects. Victoria helped out where she could but she was pretty busy with the boys.

It wasn't until one day in late November that a man named Laurent Arnaud showed up at their door that things started getting bad."

I recognized the name from the police report Detective Weber showed me. The look of disgust on Mrs. Phillips face was unmistakable. "What happened?" I asked wanting to keep her talking after she had paused.

"He said he was looking for work and noticed that the house was in a state of disrepair. At first my brother declined but Mr. Arnaud was very persistent. Then as the rains came so did the leaky roof. Finally James accepted the offer. Mr. Arnaud said he didn't have a place to stay so they let him stay in the garage. It was an old barn at one time and so it was pretty big. It had been wired for electricity and it had a loft up above so he slept there.

I went over there a few times when he was around and I felt uncomfortable. He was always giving strange looks to Victoria and the boys. I was very pregnant at the time and so I didn't go over there as much as I would have but at the time I was okay with it seeing as how I didn't want to be around him. I knew he wouldn't be there for long so I was just biding my time.

Victoria's best friend was also a friend of mine her name is Juliet. She went over there often and also had the same dislike for Laurent. She would relay stories to me that either she witnessed or that Victoria would tell her.

Victoria didn't care for him at all though she tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. It became a little hard when he would wander into the house on occasion claiming he was getting a drink or needing the bathroom.

She felt very uneasy around him. It was one day just after the New Year when she was giving Jr. a bath while Gregory was napping that she heard Gregory's crying and went to check on him only to see Laurent standing over his bed."

Kate shivered as did I. I tried to shake the image that my mind was conjuring up and listened as she continued.

"Victoria came unglued at that point and laid into him. Telling him he was never allowed in their home again and as soon as the roof was replaced he was to leave. That didn't go over well and he told her that she would be sorry.

The next day Laurent was out at the store getting some more supplies and Victoria decided to look around the garage. She found candles and some extremely old books and was going to look through them but she heard him coming back and didn't want to get caught.

She told Juliet about everything and she seemed to be worried. Soon after that Juliet decided to keep a closer eye on things since James was working so much. One day she was over there and she was taking a look at the work that he had done, making sure he was keeping to schedule and that it was done correctly.

One afternoon she had heard the dog yelping. It was one they had given the boys for a Christmas present……She followed the sound out to the garage and she peeked in. She watched as Laurent had snapped the dog's neck."

I gasped as she took a Kleenex and wiped her tears away.

"She came over to my house frantic, she was crying and I could barely understand what she was saying to me. There was more to the story though. I remember at the time she mentioned something about seeing him drain the dog while speaking in a language she didn't understand."

Mrs. Phillips started crying at this point and I didn't hide the tears that escaped either. I wanted to vomit.

"Can I get you some more lemonade?"

"Yes please." And I handed her my glass. I needed a break for a minute this was a lot to take in.

"I'm sorry Bella; I hope I'm not upsetting you."

"No, no it's fine really; I was hoping you could tell me what had happened."

"My nephew disappeared two days later. It was a nice day out. Not warm but at least clear. Jr. wanted to play outside but Gregory was sick so Vicki stayed inside with him. He knew better than to leave the yard. It was close to lunch time and so she called for him only he didn't come.

She went out looking for him but didn't find him so she called the police. James was on an overnight trip and was due back that same day but they didn't have cell phones back then and because he was driving there was no way to get in touch with him until he got home.

They searched for days but found nothing. James hired a private investigator hoping that would help. He took a leave of absence from work so he could be out there looking for him too. It wasn't until an anonymous person called in saying they saw James earlier that day in town. He couldn't prove his whereabouts so he was quickly moved to the top of the suspect list.

That didn't accomplish anything except point the police in the wrong direction. I know my brother would never hurt his son ever!"

She was upset and so I thought I should tell her what I knew.

"I know he didn't do it." I said and her head snapped in my direction.

"H-how do you know that?"

"How much do you know about what I do?"

"Not much Officer Weber said that you did consulting work for them sometimes and that you had the ability to know things. I'm not really sure I understand it completely."

"I have the ability to see and communicate with people that have died, more specifically people who have died but have yet to leave this world and move onto the next." I hoped that she would understand and not think I was lying to her.

"Go on."

"People in this situation find me. I have a certain aura about me which they can see and it draws them to me. When they have unfinished business here they resist crossing over and they stay earth bound. I help people find their way into the light if they are lost and I also help people who need something accomplished before they feel like they can go."

She gave me no sign of what she was thinking but because she wasn't asking me to leave I decided to keep talking.

"Your nephew found me weeks ago. He never spoke to me but he was always hanging around. I tried really hard to figure out what he needed but it was difficult because he didn't speak."

She was crying silent tears as she glanced back to a picture she has of him sitting on the mantle.

"He led me to discover where he was buried. He came to me again and I was finally able to help him cross over. He still didn't talk but he was able to indicate yes or no when I asked him some questions. I asked him if anyone in his family had hurt him and he shook his head no."

She let out a sob then and I waited until she recovered.

"I knew he didn't do it, I knew it." I decided not to tell her about James and Victoria still being in the house. There really wasn't any point in telling her and I didn't feel the need to upset her anymore. From what she told me about Laurent I think I had enough information to determine who invited the dark entity in. I would be calling Professor Cope's colleagues and get their opinion.

"After the case was closed and the police informed him they thought Jr. was probably dead. James…….he just lost it. He was so full of rage. Honestly Bella I was frightened. He came by my house and something in him was different. It was almost like he wasn't the same person anymore.

He didn't say it outright but looking back I should have been able to pick up on what he said. He said he was going to find a way to be with his son again. The next day he killed his family and himself. Juliet had told the police of what she witnessed but after what my brother did they didn't take it as seriously but went to question Mr. Arnaud anyway. They believed James acted out of guilt. Mr. Arnaud disappeared in the middle of the night and we never heard from him again."

We talked a while longer and she asked a few more questions and I answered them the best I could. She thanked me again for giving her some peace of mind and walked me to the door and shut it behind me as I walked down the stairs.

On the drive home my mind kept going over the things that Mrs. Phillips had told me about. I was now convinced that the handyman Laurent had been the one to invoke or invite this thing in.

This thing…… what was it exactly? I wasn't sure but I don't think it is human. Not really wanting to go home but also not really having anywhere else to go I pulled into the driveway. Searching for some information on the internet I found some websites but they offered more on the ways people practiced black magic or cult followings as opposed to what to do about them.

Finding the piece of paper with the names that Professor Cope had given me, I dialed the number and waited for someone to answer.

"Hello?" it was a very bad connection all I could hear was static. I hung up and tried again. The same static made it impossible to hear anything but muffled sounds of someone speaking. Thinking it might just be my cell phone I tried using my land line only to get the same result. Maybe it was their phone. I would have to try again later.

I wasn't sure what to do with myself I was feeling completely uncomfortable and my head was starting to ache. I had just taken some Advil when my phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Leah's in labor, we're on the way to the hospital." Jake practically screeched into the phone. I could hear Leah in the background breathing heavily.

"I'm on my way." I told him. "I'll call Billy if you haven't already." I added after I heard Leah yell at Jake to watch where he's going.

"Thanks Bells." And he hung up. I scrolled through my contacts until I found his name and pressed send. Unfortunately I only got his answering machine and he didn't have a cell phone.

Not wanting him to miss anything especially since both of Leah's parents had died and her brother was across the country attending college I called Charlie hoping he could help track him down.

"Hey dad." I said when he answered.

"Hi Bells, what's up?"

"Leah's in labor and Billy isn't answering his phone."

"Oh actually I'm supposed to be meeting him later on for the game. I'll go track him down; I think I know where he is."

"Thanks dad, I better get to the hospital."

"No problem kid." I hung up and got in my truck. I smiled to myself when I realized that Edward was going to be there.

I checked in at the reception desk and made my way up to Leah's room only to find a pacing Jake.

"Maybe you should sit down." His head snapped up.

"You made it." Relief clear in his voice.

"Yep and I called Billy too but he wasn't home so Charlie is going to track him down." I turned to Leah then and sat down in the chair next to the bed.

"How are you doing?" I asked her.

"I'm exhausted and I haven't even done anything yet. My water broke but apparently I'm only 3 cm dialated. It looks like were going to be here for a while."

"That's good, maybe Billy will make it before the baby's born then."

"I hope so." She grimaced in pain. The door opened then and a doctor came in.

"How are you doing Mrs. Black?" I looked up to see Paul, the doctor I met the other day while waiting for Edward. He recognized me and smiled.

"Well hello again Bella."

"Hello." I replied as he turned his attention back to Leah. Jake raised an eyebrow at me. I shook my head slightly. Wanting to give Leah some privacy while the doctor gave his exam, I stepped out of the room to call Edward.

A nurse passing by reminded me not to use cell phones in the hospital. Slightly embarrassed I made my way back to the lobby. Before I could reach the door to go outside I heard Edward call my name.

"Bella?" he looked worried. I smiled brightly at him as he jogged over to me.

"Edward." I reached up to give him a kiss.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Leah's in labor and I was just about to call you and let you know I was here."

"That's great, how's she doing?"

"She seems to think she's going to be here awhile, which would work out well since it will take Jake's dad awhile to get here."

"I'll head up with you so I can say hi." He took my hand and as soon as we got into the empty elevator he gave me a very passionate kiss.

"I've missed you." He mumbled against my lips before moving across my jaw and onto my neck. He didn't notice the elevator doors open but much to my embarrassment two nurses glared at me as they saw what was taking place.

"Edward." I whispered trying to pull away from him. He finally noticed and stopped sucking on my neck long enough to acknowledge them. While I was as red as a tomato he was smirking slightly looking rather pleased with himself.

Walking into Leah's room again Jake looked up at us surprised to see Edward with me.

"Nice to see you again Jake." Edward held his hand out and Jake shook it while smiling.

"You too Edward."

"How are you feeling Leah?" Edward asked I saw him eyeing her chart but he refrained from picking it up.

"Pretty good since they gave me something for the pain, I just wish she would hurry up." Her eyes were getting a little droopy.

"Do you have a named picked out?"

"Isabella Suzanne Black."

"Isabella is a beautiful name." Edward said turning to look at me.

"Yes it is, and Suzanne was my mother's name." she said with her eyes finally closing.

"We'll let you rest, I'll be right back in Jake." I said as I walked Edward out.

"I'm off in a couple of hours, so I'll just meet you back here?"

"I'll be here." I said reaching up to kiss him. "Oh can you let Rose know? I forgot to call her."

"I can do that. I'll see you soon." He kissed me one more time before I walked back in the room. The next few hours passed by extremely slowly. Edward's shift was over and Rose had shown up. I couldn't believe it was taking so long.

Edward and I decided to go pick up some sandwiches for everyone from across the street. When we got in the elevator Edward started kissing me again.

"Hold on there, last time you attacked me in an elevator we got caught." I said pulling away from him.

"It's your own fault; if you weren't so irresistible then perhaps I could control myself better."

"One of these times you're going to……." And he cut me off with a kiss as well as reaching around me and grabbing my ass as he moaned loudly into my mouth. Just then the elevator doors opened.

"Bella?" the sound of my father's voice halted all movement and I jumped back from Edward.

"Dad! W-what are you doing here?" I croaked out. Billy was shaking his head back and forth trying not to laugh and Edward was a brighter red than I had ever been before.

"Told you so." I whispered to him.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" Charlie asked as they got into the elevator. We just rode back up with them.

"Dad this is Edward Cullen, Edward this is my father Charlie Swan."

"Nice to meet you sir." Edward said shaking hands with Charlie the color in his face had not faded. Charlie grunted.

"I didn't know you were coming too." I said noticing he didn't change out of his uniform.

"Well I wanted to meet the newest member of the Black family as well as have the chance to see you." He explained.

The next hour was spent with Edward trying to make small talk with my dad and not getting very far as Charlie gave one syllable answers if any at all. Jake came out of the room and both Charlie and Billy went over to him leaving me to talk with Edward alone.

"That was so not how I planned to meet your father for the first time." He whispered.

"Well, it's your own fault. I….. Wait you have already planned out how you wanted to meet my father?" I asked smiling. My words seemed to click for him in that moment. He looked a little worried.

"Um yeah I guess I did…….. Is that too much too soon? I hope that doesn't make you upset. I'm sorry if I'm moving too quickly Bella. It's just well I may have mentioned you to my parents and they were so excited and wanted to meet you and it got me thinking that I wanted to meet your parents too. I didn't have a time frame in mind exactly but if that's too much for you I promise we can slow this down. I never want you to feel uncomfortable. I really care about you and well I'm sorry Bella."

His words were sincere and the nervous tone was evident. I could see the smile on Charlie's face as he pretended he wasn't listening.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for. I'm not upset I was just surprised that you thought at all in that direction." I tried to reassure him.

While Jake explained that Leah was going to need a C-section, Charlie had relaxed and had actually taken the time to have a real conversation with Edward.

Forty five minutes later Isabella Suzanne Black was born. Exhausted we all went home. Jake of course stayed at the hospital since they were keeping Leah overnight. I took Billy to their house so he could sleep for the night.

This of course thwarted my plans of staying at Edward's house since Charlie was going to spend the night at mine. I only hoped nothing happened while he was here. I tried to talk him into staying with Billy but he wasn't buying it and insisted he sleep on my couch.

"Is everything okay Bells?" Charlie asked as I was making breakfast the next morning.

"Yeah dad."

"You just seem a little on edge."

"I'm fine really, just a little tired." I smiled

"Is this because of Edward?"

"What? No, why would you think that?"

"I just don't want you to think I didn't like him, despite my first impression he is a really nice man and I think he's good for you. I just wanted to make him sweat a little bit. That's the least he could do for burning that image of the two of you in the elevator into my brain." He shuddered.

"I'm glad you like him dad, I really do too."

"I can tell, and I can tell he feels the same about you. It's nice to finally see you with someone Bells."

We spent most of the day together. But when it was time for me to get to class he decided to head home instead of staying for the weekend. He didn't really come prepared to stay and he had no other clothes with him.

Billy opted to stay and spend some time with his new granddaughter. Around five o'clock I got a call from Alice.

"Bella hi, I was just wondering if you and Rose wanted to come over for dinner tonight? Well come to Edwards for dinner we thought it would be fun for the six of us to hang out and maybe the three of us could go shopping in the morning?"

"That sounds great Alice. What can I bring?" I was a little surprised that she was willing to go to Edwards. He had told me how upset she gets about the things going on but then again it probably didn't matter where we go since location doesn't seem to be a problem anymore.

"Nothing, I already have everything but you could come over early I wouldn't mind some help cooking, and from what my brothers say you're a pretty good cook."

"Are you there now?"

"I'm just about to head over." We hung up and I told Rose about the plan. Rose drove and we arrived about 15 minutes later.

"Wow." Rose said as she looked at Edward's house from the curb. I had forgotten she hadn't been here yet.

"It's really a beautiful home." She nodded as we walked up the stairs where we were greeted by Emma.

I didn't have to knock as Edward opened the door before we had time. Emma ran inside and I could tell that Alice had already started dinner by the wonderful smell coming from the kitchen.

"Hey beautiful, how was your day?" Edward asked before I took two steps inside.

"Good, it was nice spending some time with my dad. I just wish I didn't have these Saturday classes. I think I'm going to change the day next semester."

"So uh what time did your dad leave?" he shifted nervously from foot to foot. Emmett's loud laugh startled me.

"Yeah I heard Eddie here made a great first impression." He said while Jasper joined in laughing.

"Don't worry, he likes you. He told me so himself." I said kissing him on the cheek. He didn't look too convinced, but Rose and I joined Alice in the kitchen anyway. I looked around at all the food.

"Geez, you have a ton of food here." But then I remembered the three pizzas that Emmett had ordered for us the other day.

"Don't forget Emmett is eating too, half the food is for him." She giggled.

"Hey, I don't eat that much." We heard coming from the other room. After we finished eating dinner we brought our desserts and drinks into the living room. We were having a great time just talking and we even played monopoly. I knew I was a little buzzed and I think everyone else was too. We were constantly laughing and a few of us had started slurring words.

"What was that?" Alice asked

"What was what?" Jasper said sitting next to her.

"I thought you said something." She tilted her head slightly.

"Not me." he answered.

"You didn't just whisper something to me?" he shook his head and that sobered me a little.

"I guess I'm just hearing things." The way she said it sounded like she didn't think anything of it but as soon as she did everyone stiffened a little.

"At least it's better than hearing that damn dog at all hours of the night." Emmett said I think trying to ease the sudden tension.

"What dog?" Jasper asked.

"My neighbor has a dog, they must never let it in at night because it almost sounds like its being tortured."

"I know, I'm about ready to go over there and have a talk with them. The poor thing."

"Have you seen it?" I asked

"What, the dog?"

"Uh yeah, I mean do you know which neighbor it is?"

"It must be the one on the north side, and it's not every night but it sounds like its just right out back and it's coming from that direction. I've never actually seen it but maybe they keep it in the garage or something."

I took a drink and finished it in one gulp. I got up to get another one and Edward followed me into the kitchen.

"Are you okay?" he asked wrapping his arms around my waist.

"I am now." I said kissing his neck and trying my best to leave a mark like he did to me. Luckily Jasper came in and I didn't have to explain anything else.

"Sorry guys, I was just looking for some popcorn. We're about to start a movie." He made some and brought it in with him as we all got comfortable.

As the credits were rolling I looked over to see Alice practically asleep. Her eyes were slowly closing until they didn't reopen. Jasper scooted out from under her and put a pillow in place of his lap stating he had to use the bathroom.

I was too comfortable to get up so I just stayed cuddling into Edward's side. Jasper was walking back down the stairs when Alice spoke.

"I knew it was you, stop trying to freak me out." She said with her eyes still closed. Jasper stopped his decent and Edward and I looked at Alice.

"What are you talking about?" He said from the stairs. Alice's eyes popped open and she sat up quickly in surprise. She looked at the pillow in horror as she quickly scooted backwards off the couch nearly falling in the process.

I got up and went to Alice's side. Jasper moved quickly over to us as Edward sat up looking around confused. Rose and Emmett were both asleep.

"What is it?" Jasper asked putting his arms around her.

"The pillow……someone was whispering." Her eyes still opened wide.

"What?" Emmett said as he lifted his head.

"I heard whispering it was right in my ear, I thought it was you Jazz." It was almost comical they way all of our eyes darted around the room and to each other. I walked over to the pillow and picked it up pressing it to my ear.

After a few minutes of silence I set it back down on the couch. It was silent for a moment longer and then Jasper spoke.

"Well I guess we should get going. I'll pick you two up in the morning." He said to Edward and Emmett. They were going to go golfing together while the three of us went to the mall.

"Drive carefully. We'll see you tomorrow." I said as they left. Rose and I had both planned on staying here tonight and Alice was going to meet us here.

I was awoken to the sounds of Edward in the shower wondering if I was ever going to get the chance to see James and Victoria again. That's when I heard him, he was singing in the shower. Who actually does that? I smiled as I listened to his rendition of 'Chasing Cars'. I watched the surprised look on his face when he saw me sitting up in bed looking at him wearing only a towel.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" he asked blushing a little.

"I don't mind, it was a nice way to be woken up." I smiled at him my eyes roaming over his body. He moved across the room and sat on the edge of the bed.

"That's good to hear." He moved to lie next to me. Soon he was practically covering me with his body his towel slipping as I let my hands roam across his chest and down his back. When I grabbed his ass he moaned loudly. I could feel his erection pressing against me. Finally his hand made it under my shirt covering my breasts. He reached around my back and had just managed to unhook my bra when Emmett pounded on the door.

"Jasper's here." Emmett yelled.

"Damn" he sighed loudly. My thoughts echoed his.

"Since neither of us work tomorrow how about that date tonight?" he asked.

"I'm looking forward to it." He got dressed and I walked him downstairs.

"Have fun today guys." Edward kissed me goodbye. Rose was still asleep and we had a few hours before Alice got here. I looked around the room and noticed the mess that we left last night.

I started cleaning up stepping on a sticky spot on the kitchen floor. I found a bucket and filled it up with soap and water. I started to mop up the mess when I saw there was a dark sort of sludge on the floor that I seemed to be spreading around.

I tried rinsing off the mop in the bucket several times but the water stayed clean. I looked back to the floor and it was like there was something oozing from it. I was getting frantic now trying to clean this up but it was only getting worse. I abandoned the mop and grabbed a role of paper towels wiping up as much as I could getting sludge everywhere including on myself.

I managed to get the floor clean leaving a small burn mark about the size of my fist on the floor. I wondered if that had always been there or if it was a direct result from whatever just happened. I would have to make sure to ask Edward about that later. I gathered the used paper towels putting them in a garbage bag walking out the front door spying the garbage can near the curb realizing today must be pick up day.

As I was walking down the walkway to the sidewalk a man was walking by. He was looking straight ahead and I stopped for a moment to let him pass. Just as he reached me he turned his head to look right at me. He had a smirk on his face and when I made eye contact I almost fell backwards when he blinked. His eyes went completely black before changing back to normal when he blinked again.

I watched as he turned his head forward again and kept walking and disappeared around the corner. I stood there unable to move for several minutes trying to figure out if that had really happened or not. It was so fast that I couldn't even be sure.

I turned back around to see Rose standing in the doorway with a concerned look on her face.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight

Chapter 15

BPOV

I turned back around and put the bad of garbage in the can. I slowly made my way back up to the front porch where Rose was just waiting for me in silence. We walked inside before she spoke.

"What's happening Bella? And who was that?" she asked tentatively.

"Something bad and I'm not really sure I want to know who that was." I was being honest. Rose nodded her head slowly and sat down.

"What's all over your clothes?" She pointed to the sludge like substance.

"I'm not sure, but I'm going to take a shower. I'll try and be quick." I didn't want to leave her alone but I had to get out of these clothes right away.

"I'll come upstairs with you." She told me. I took a quick shower and got dressed and Rose had done the same. As we came back downstairs we saw that Alice had let herself in and was sitting with Emma on her lap watching TV.

"Good morning ladies." Alice said sounding like she was in a pretty good mood.

"Good morning Alice." Both Rose and I greeted her. She must have noticed our expressions because hers fell almost instantly.

"What's wrong?" Alice asked.

"Um, it's…getting worse. I need to talk to you two about some things that are going on." They both looked a little worried. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of something on the stairs. I realized it was Gregory and I needed to take advantage of this time not knowing when I might have another chance.

"Actually can you guys do me a favor and stay down here for a minute?" I asked keeping my eyes on the stairs as I walked in that direction.

"Um sure." I heard Rose say. I made my way upstairs and went straight into Emmett's room. I didn't see anyone so I called out quietly.

"Gregory?" He didn't answer but I saw that he was huddled in the corner quietly. I was extremely surprised to see him alone. He was holding his knees to his chest and rocked back and forth slightly. I knelt down hoping that would ease some of his discomfort.

"Gregory, where's your mom?" He looked over at me but didn't say anything. I didn't want to frighten him anymore so I stayed where I was which was on the other side of the room. Suddenly Victoria rushed past me and quickly scooped him up and put him on her lap.

"Victoria, I need to talk to you, it's important." She didn't say anything but looked somewhat grateful and I wondered if it was because I was here with her son while she was away.

"Where's James?" I asked and she opened her mouth to say something but instead I heard James' voice.

"He's not back yet." James said to his wife. She nodded and rubbed her son's back lightly. I waited for James to join them before I began speaking.

"I spoke to your son again, James Jr." I whispered. Victoria's face lit up but James' face showed his immediate anger.

"Stop saying that!" His nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed.

"It's true; please believe me." I almost pleaded. I wasn't sure how much time we had left before _he_ came back.

"And tell me why I should." He spat.

"James, be quiet please. I want to hear what she has to say." Victoria said. It was very clear that she one that would be the easiest to convince and hopefully she could make her husband listen.

"It's been a few days, but he was at my house. He crossed over to the other side now. He's safe and he wants you to join him."

"You don't know what you're talking about." James said still angry.

"Yes I do. Please just listen to me." I started but he cut me off with a growl and told me to hurry up since he didn't know how much longer we would be alone.

"James Jr. came to me to weeks ago; he wanted me to help him. It was hard since he didn't speak to me but eventually he made his point. He showed me that he was buried in the wooded area behind the house." I watched tears forming in both of their eyes.

"He never spoke but I was able to ask him some questions and he indicated yes or no. What I'm trying to say is that he was terrified of something in this house but he desperately wanted to find the three of you but was too scared to come here."

"How do we know it was really James Jr. and that it wasn't someone else?" James asked and his tone was a lot kinder.

"Well he looked exactly the same as in the pictures that your sister Kate has." That seemed to get his attention.

"Katie?" he practically whispered.

"Yes, the police notified your sister when they were able to match the dental records to the skull they found." I felt bad being so blunt but like he said earlier I didn't know how much time we had before we weren't alone anymore.

"She asked to speak with me and so I went to meet her and she showed me pictures of your family."

"Where is he now? Where is my son?" Victoria asked.

"I told him that he needed to go into the light. It was time for him to cross over. He was reluctant at first but I convinced him it was the safest place for him to be. I promised him that I would tell you and that you would meet him as soon as possible."

Victoria's smile was radiant. But her husband still wasn't convinced.

"I'm not leaving here without my son." He said.

"He's already crossed over; he's waiting for you to join him."

"You're lying."

"No James, I'm not." I looked over to Victoria then.

"Your son is safe now, and it's time for you three to be too. You need to cross over. He's waiting for you." She looked torn looking back and forth between me and her husband.

"You can't stay here. You said before that it isn't safe here. You need to think of Gregory and get him to a safe place; you need to get out while you can." That appealed to her maternal side. She started nodding and had a new determined look on her face.

"Do you swear James is waiting for us in the light?" She asked.

"I swear." She seemed to believe me and looked at James.

"I think we should go, things are getting worse here. She's right James we can't keep putting Gregory in danger. I think we should go."

"I don't know if I can." He said with his face in his hands.

"Please, we need to take care of our other son too and if she's right Jr. is waiting for us." She pleaded. Several minutes later he finally looked at her and gave her a slight nod. I sighed in relief. James looked at me suddenly and I could practically feel how anxious he was.

"You need to be careful. He won't be happy that we're gone. It's not safe here." He repeated.

"Who is he?" I was afraid to ask and he didn't give me a direct answer.

"He told us we could never leave; we were supposed to serve him."

"Serve him?" I didn't like the sound of that at all. They seemed to hear something before I did because the three of them looked up towards the door at the same time.

"There's no time now, get out while you can." And with that the three of them crossed over. And while I was extremely happy for them I had a horrible feeling that James was right and things were about to get worse.

I was suddenly overwhelmed by a putrid smell and a very loud ringing in my ears. I found myself extremely dizzy and disoriented. I barely made it out of the room before I heard Rose and Alice coming up the stairs. It was apparent that they had an encounter or something as they were both covering their mouths with their hands.

"Bella, are you okay?" Alice mumbled. We all went downstairs and out the door to the porch to get some fresh air.

"I'm fine…. did you see anything?" I asked.

"No, but we smelled it." Rose said practically coughing.

"What's going on Bella?" Alice asked.

"I'm going to find out. I need to make a call, I'll be right back." I went back inside and found my cell. I scrolled down the list until I found the name of Professor Cope's friends.

I hit the send button and I heard someone pick up after the second ring.

"Hello?" The connection was still bad but not as bad as before and I walked back out to the porch.

"Yes my name is Bella Swan. I got your number from Professor Cope."

"Of course, Ms. Swan. Shelly told us you would be calling. What can I do for you?"

"Well Mr. Varner I am seemingly having some trouble with what I think is a dark entity and I could really use some help." The static on the phone had picked back up and I couldn't hear him very well.

"I'm sorry this connection is so bad, perhaps we could meet and discuss this in person?" he asked.

"That would be great, thank you Mr. Varner. When and where is the best time for you?" I asked.

"We are due to be out of town starting tomorrow for a few days so we can either meet today or when we get back."

"If it's not too much trouble I would like to meet as soon as possible."

"How about my office? It's downtown on the corner of 5th and Broadway in about an hour?"

"Thank you Mr. Varner. I'll see you then." I hung up the phone and found that Rosalie and Alice were watching me intently.

"I'm going to be meeting a friend of Professor Cope's. He knows a lot more on this subject and I'm afraid we could use all the help we can get." Both of the girls looked upset.

"I promise as soon as I get back I'll tell you everything but right now I think we should get out of here." After locking up the three of us walked out to the curb. I told Rose and Alice that they should still going to go shopping and I was going home to get some things and was going to meet Mr. Varner hoping he could help.

"What time do you think you'll be done?" Alice asked.

"Well, we're meeting in an hour but honestly I have no idea how long it will take. Maybe you could tell the boys and we could all meet for dinner around 5:00pm?"

"Okay, how about the Taco House?" Rose asked.

"Perfect, I'll see you then." I watched as they both got into Alice's car and drove down the street. I stopped off at home to get some of the notes I had started taking.

I was still going to be early but I didn't want to sit around home so I drove to Mr. Varner's office and waited. It wasn't long before someone pulled into the parking lot and parked next to me.

Looking at my watch I saw that it was only five minutes until the time we had agreed to meet so I got out of my car and waited for them by the door.

"Mr. Varner?" I asked.

"Yes, Ms. Swan?" he asked and held out his hand.

"Thank you for meeting me on such short notice, and please call me Bella."

"This is my wife Caroline and please call me Frank."

"Thank you, it's nice meeting you both." I followed them into the building and down the hall to their office.

"Please, have a seat." We all sat down at a long table. I sat next to Caroline and across from Frank.

"Shelly didn't give me much information when she called, only that you may be in need of some help?"

"Yes. I'm afraid that I may have stumbled upon something that I know very little about and I could use all the insight I can get."

"Why don't you start from the beginning and don't leave anything out even if it seems unimportant." I told them the entire story up until this point. I also noted the look of concern on Caroline's face but Frank managed to get his face expressionless.

"My opinion is that this is a dark entity. All the signs point in that direction." Mr. Varner said.

"I would say that this Laurent person was the one who opened that door." He continued.

"So it's not Laurent himself?" I wanted to clarify.

"No, human spirits cannot turn into dark entities no matter how bad of a person they are. They're entirely different… a different species for lack of a better term. There is real evil in the world Bella, most of us don't run across it or if we do don't completely understand but there would be no need for any rituals to take place if Laurent had been one. I believe that Laurent is nothing more than human. One that got involved in something he shouldn't have and now we are left to deal with what he has done." Frank said.

We talked a little more on their thoughts of how James Jr. was involved. They thought it was Laurent had been the one to kill Jr. and used him as part of this ritual. They were also concerned but not surprised with the strength this thing seemed to have.

"So what do I do?" I asked.

"The first thing is that we need to go to the home and experience it for ourselves. I am also psychic and Frank is a demonologist. We've been doing this for many years and have encountered this many times but we need to see it first hand to know the best plan of attack." Caroline said

"Unfortunately like I told you earlier we are needed out of town for a couple of days but as soon as we get back we will come over." Frank said.

"I can't thank you enough."

"No thanks necessary we are glad to help. Just be careful. I'm afraid it will not be very happy with you knowing James and his family are gone."

"I will." They both surprised me with a hug goodbye. I got to my car and realized that it was nearly 4:00pm I couldn't believe that I spent that much time there. I was going to call Edward and let him know where I was but my battery had died.

I didn't know if everyone was back yet or where they were so I decided to go home and call from there. I had nearly made it back when all of the sudden someone was standing in the middle of the road only a few feet from where I was.

Someone who I could swear was not there a few seconds ago. I slammed on the breaks and jerked the steering wheel to the right in order to avoid hitting the person. It all happened so quickly that I didn't see the telephone pole right in front of me until it was too late. I could feel my head hit something very hard and it was only a minute before I was enveloped in darkness.

EPOV

I was extremely irritated with Emmett for pounding on the door the way he did this morning. Okay so it wasn't entirely Emmett's fault. I guess it was more about my really bad timing and I knew it wouldn't be long before Jasper showed up. But Bella looked so beautiful this morning and the way she was looking at me when I was wearing nothing but a towel. I just couldn't help myself.

"Did you hear me Edward" Emmett snapped me out of my thoughts about Bella.

"Sorry, what did you say?" I asked.

"I said, what's with the goofy grin?" I realized that I was grinning like a fool so I quickly changed to a scowl.

"Nice try." Jasper chuckled. I'm pretty sure he knew where my mind was. We talked about the girls for the most part the whole morning. I was having a great time with the guys and I'm glad we had a chance to play but I was having kind of an off game. I guess I just was too busy thinking about Bella to really focus.

We decided to play 18 holes instead of just the normal 9 today so we got back a little later than we had planned on. We walked in the front door and I headed straight for the kitchen to get a drink. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to find that the girls had cleaned up our mess from last night. I grabbed a Pepsi for the 3 of us and sat down on the couch.

"Thanks." Jasper said as he took the drink from me and practically fell into the recliner. I picked up the phone and dialed Bella's number only to leave her a voicemail message.

I looked over to see Emmett on his phone and he looked slightly confused. After he hung up he informed me and Jasper of the plan for the night.

"Looks like the girls want to meet us for dinner. I guess something came up and Bella had to skip out on the shopping trip so were all going to meet up at the Taco House at 5:00pm." He said.

"What came up?" I asked.

"Rosie didn't say exactly just that Bella had to meet with someone unexpectedly and left around 11:30 this morning."

"And she's still not back yet?" I asked looking at my watch.

"Don't worry Edward, Rose said she didn't know long the meeting was supposed to last and she wouldn't be surprised if it took most of the day."

"Hmmm."

"Well, I'm going to head home to shower and change and I'll meet you guys back here." Jasper said.

"Okay, see ya later." Jasper left Emmett and I went upstairs to shower and change. When I finished I went to check my phone. There weren't any messages. I tried her again and it went straight to voicemail for the second time.

Not long after that Jasper had come back and we were just waiting until it was time to leave. I was starting to get a little anxious so I talked the guys into leaving a few minutes early.

We got to the Taco House about a quarter to five. We waited a few minutes before finally getting a table. About five minutes before five Alice and Rosalie walked in. I tried not to worry knowing that they had been out together and Bella was going to meet us here.

They joined us and we all munched on chips for a few minutes waiting. When she was ten minutes late I called her again just to get the same result as before. I didn't bother leaving a message this time. The waitress came by and we had decided to order for Bella since Rosalie said she knew what her favorite thing here was.

Our food had arrived and the conversation was very stilted. I picked at my dinner. "Did she say where she was going?" I asked for the second time today.

"Just that she was going to meet with a friend of one of her professors." Rosalie answered quietly not at all annoyed that I had already asked the question. Her concern was evident.

"And she didn't tell you where?" I could see Alice open her mouth to say something when my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and answered right away without looking to see who it was.

"Bella?"

"Sorry Edward, its Paul."

"Paul, oh….uh sorry about that I was just expecting Bella's call."

"Actually that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I was called down to cover some of the ER today and well… Bella's here."

"Bella's in the ER?" I stood up quickly knocking my chair over in the process. Everybody's head snapped up to look at me. Emmett was out of his seat pulling some money out of his wallet and throwing it on the table. Rosalie stopped the waitress as she walked by talking to her only for a second before following Jasper and Alice as they nearly sprinted for the door.

I quickly followed her as Paul continued to talk. "Don't worry she's fine. She has a concussion and a pretty big knot on her forehead but other than that she's okay." He re-assured me.

"Thanks Paul." I hung up the phone and told everyone what Paul had said before driving to the hospital.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight

Chapter 16

EPOV

I had the car door opened before Jasper had even stopped. I ran in the front doors to the ER. I didn't bother waiting for anyone else as I disappeared through the double doors where I knew Bella would be. I caught sight of Paul as he was leaving one of the rooms.

"Paul." I yelled as I ran over to him. He turned around at the sound of my voice.

"She's fine Edward." He said as he started walking down the hall towards one of the back rooms.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I'm not sure exactly, just that she had hit a telephone pole and was brought in unconscious." His brows furrowed and his lips formed a tight line. We had reached the room by then and I ran in the door. Bella was sitting up but her eyes were on the ground.

"Bella!" I ran over to her and hugged her tightly. I pulled back to kiss her when I saw the tears forming in her eyes.

"Edward." She pulled me tighter to her and started sobbing. I'm not sure why that surprised me but it did. I finally was able to see the toll this whole thing was taking on her.

"I'll just give you two a minute." I heard Paul say as he left the room. I let Bella cry into my shirt while I stroked her hair. After she was all cried out she pulled back slightly but never let go.

"Are you okay? Are you in any pain?" she nodded.

"I'm okay; they've already given me something." I grabbed her chart and checked it over.

"Honey, what happened?" I asked gently.

"I hit a telephone pole." She said sniffling. I brushed her hair back from her eyes and wiped away the tears that were silently running down her face. I could tell there was more to it.

"Do you remember what caused the accident?"

"It wasn't an accident." She whispered and was looking over my shoulder staring off into space.

"What do you mean it wasn't an accident?" I asked as calmly as I could.

"It was him Edward." I stiffened as she continued.

"He was at the house this morning and then out of nowhere he was standing in the middle of the road three feet in front of my truck. I tried to swerve out of the way and I hit a telephone pole." I could almost feel the blood leaving my face. Son of a bitch! I screamed in my head.

"Angel, I need you to start from the beginning."

"It started this morning when I was cleaning the kitchen." She started but Paul walked back in the room and we both looked over to him.

"How are you feeling Bella? Any nausea or dizziness yet?"

"I'm a little dizzy actually."

"Okay, I'd really like to keep you over night." He said before looking to me. I think he though I would protest.

"And Edward, I know you can take care of her but." He turned to look at me but I interrupted him.

"No Paul, you're right. I'm not taking any chances." Not to mention that it was clear Bella really needed a break. Not that something bad couldn't happen here too, but I felt better about her being surrounded by people and away from our houses for at least one night.

"Oh…well good. Um I'll just have a room set up for you then Bella." he said before turning to leave.

"Sweetheart, I'm going to go let everyone else know you're okay and we'll meet you in your room okay?"

"Okay, thank you Edward." I gave her a kiss and left as soon as the nurse came in with the wheelchair. Bella scoffed at it but got in anyway. I jogged back to the waiting room and Rosalie spotted me first and jumped up. Jasper was pacing back and forth and looked to me when he saw Rose move.

"She's okay right?" Emmett asked.

"Yeah Em she's okay but they are going to keep her here overnight. She hit her head hard enough that she was brought in unconscious and is a little dizzy. Their taking her to her room right now.

"How'd it happen?" Alice asked. I looked around to see a few people close enough to hear so I lowered my voice.

"She said that this wasn't an accident." I was about to continue when Emmett almost roared.

"What do you mean it wasn't an accident?" he was seething.

"She thinks that it has to do with...well, the situation." I knew Bella would explain it so I started walking and stopped by the nurse's station to see which room Bella was in. We walked in the door and everyone crowded around the bed and I sat near the end and pulled her feet into my lap.

"Are you okay?" Rosalie asked quietly. Bella nodded and I could see the tears coming again. Both Rose and Alice gave her a hug.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Jasper asked. Bella started from when she woke up this morning until now. If I was scared before it was nothing to what I was feeling now.

"I don't think anyone should be staying at Edwards until the Varner's get back to town, just in case." She whispered that last part.

Bella was scared. That much was easy to see and it felt even worse than when I knew Emmett was. Not only because I never wanted her to feel this way but because I knew things were really bad now. Not that I couldn't figure that out on my own. I mean we where in the hospital for goodness sake but Bella almost seemed defeated and that was far worse. After Alice persuaded Emmett and Rose to stay with her and Jasper for at least the night they all left.

"I don't suppose I could convince you to go to Alice's and get some sleep?" she asked.

"Nope."

"And I suppose you're going to be staying with me all night?" she smiled.

"Yep, so scoot over." She laughed a little, and I was glad that I could take her mind off things even for a second. She scooted and I slid in beside her. We laid with our faces only an inch or two apart. I lifted my hand to cup her face.

"I was so scared." I said suddenly blurting out the truth. I really was, when Paul told me she was in the ER I felt a stabbing pain in my chest. I couldn't breath. I know it was only seconds before he told me she was okay but it felt like time had stopped.

I realized in those few seconds how much Bella really means to me. I think I might be falling for her. Is that too soon? I thought back briefly to other relationships that I've been in and I knew I had never been in love before so it was impossible to compare it to.

Was I in love with Bella? I'm not sure. It feels like it. But then my rational side says that it _is_ too soon. One thing I do know is that I haven't felt like this before or have been as happy. And the thought of losing her is agonizing. So maybe I was falling for her. It would be incredibly easy to fall in love with Bella. And if I wasn't there yet I knew it wasn't going to take long.

"I'm sorry that I scared you." She said holding my hand in its place.

"Don't apologize; it's not your fault."

"Sorry." She said again but smiled at me.

"I don't know what I'd do if you were seriously hurt." I told her honestly.

"I'll be fine Edward. I always am." She frowned a little.

"I don't call this fine."

"I am though; it could have been a lot worse." She closed her eyes grimacing at her mistake.

"Exactly. What are we going to do?"

"We're doing all we can do right now. We have to wait for Caroline and Frank; there isn't much to do with out them."

"Will you at least call them and let them know what happened?"

"Okay I'll call them tomorrow." She said trying to appease me. The night was long. The nurses came in to check on Bella every couple hours. I tried to be sly and perform my own exam on her occasionally throughout the night.

"Well this isn't exactly how my doctor fantasy usually plays out." She said suddenly blushing at the realization of her words.

"Oh?" I cocked an eyebrow at her. She was still red but she kept going anyway.

"Nope, not at all." she let out a faux sigh.

"Well maybe I could help you out then. Care to let me in on the details?" I leaned over to kiss her before she could answer.

"Mmmmmm" she moaned. But she pulled back quickly remembering how we had been caught in the elevator and didn't want to run the risk of anymore nurses glaring at her.

BPOV

I woke up to a horrific headache and someone shinning an extremely bright light in my eyes. I immediately closed them but after several minutes of coaxing I agreed to at least try to open them again. I immediately recognized one of the doctors as Edward's overly flirty friend Paul.

"Hi Bella, how are you feeling." Paul asked.

"Like I ran head-on into a telephone pole." He smiled slightly and continued his examination.

"Alright Bella, you have a concussion and an obviously large bump on your forehead." I automatically reached up to touch it and winced.

"I'll get you something for the pain." He said as he walked back through the door. He returned a few minutes later handing me some pills and water.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Oh, and I called Edward for you. He's on his way in."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

I was still on edge. I sat there waiting only for a few minutes before I heard him yell my name. I was relieved. No, relieved wasn't quite the right word. I needed him so much and as much as that scared me I wouldn't trade it for anything. I broke down and sobbed and he held me. It was a simple gesture but it meant the world to me. Or maybe it was just because it was Edward. I realized that I've come to depend on him and I wasn't expecting that.

He never even had to try. His presence alone was all it took. He made me feel whole. Is that even possible after knowing him for such a short time? Maybe…..but I do know that there was no turning back now. I wouldn't want to anyway. Hoping this works out is an understatement. I couldn't imagine my life without him in it. I think I might be falling in love with Edward.

After awhile I managed to stop crying. I wasn't entirely sure that I needed to spend the night in the hospital. It was only a concussion but when Edward agreed with Paul I knew better than to put up a fight. I also knew that he was going to be staying the night with me even before everyone else left.

He laid with me for quite a while before finally getting kicked out of bed by one of the nurses. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to show my face here again. The staff here always seems to catch us in compromising positions. It probably wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that these people are Edward's co-workers.

I was released the next day. Edward had today off since he worked last Friday. He drove me home obviously. Luckily my truck is such a beast that there wasn't a terrible amount of damage. I had it towed to Jake's garage and he said he'd get it back to me as soon as he could.

I called the Varner's once we got home and I told them about the accident. That worried them quite a bit and they were going to try and get things wrapped up so they could get back here as soon as possible. They were extremely concerned with the strength and power that this thing seemed to have. Their plan was to hopefully make it here by late tonight or early morning at the latest. They gave more warnings to be careful and said they call to check in later on.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Fuck." Edward said looking at his pager. He pulled out his phone and called the hospital.

"Is there anyone else you can get?" I heard him ask. "No I understand, I'll be right in." He turned to me looking worried.

"Sweetheart I have to go into work for a little while. There are two people out sick and there's a major trauma coming in." He didn't look very happy but I knew that was only because he didn't want me to be alone.

"Edward, it's okay. I'll be fine." I stood up to walk him to the door. He just stared at me for a second. He pulled his phone back out. He kept his eyes on me the whole time.

"Hey Alice, I've been called into work for an hour or two. Is there anyway you can come to Bella's while I'm gone?" I rolled my eyes at him but he just narrowed his at me.

"30 minutes? …of course I didn't realize you weren't home today... Oh okay..… Thanks Ali." He hung up and gave me a hug.

"I don't need to be babysat." I told him. He kissed the top of my head and then pulled back to look at me.

"I know you don't." He closed his eyes and ran his hands through his hair.

"But please humor me on this? You were just released from the hospital, and I honestly don't want you to be alone until everything is taken care of."

"Edward." I said in warning. He took both my hands in his.

"Please, for me." I sighed.

"Okay, if it will make you feel better." I reached up to kiss him.

"Yes it will, thank you. Alice should be here in about half an hour." I kissed him again and watched him get into his car. About 15 minutes after he left the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Bella?"

"Alice? Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine, but I need you to meet me at Edwards."

"What? What are you talking about? Where are you?"

"I'm here and I need you to meet me here I'm scared."

"What the hell are you doing at Edwards? I thought you were on your way here."

"I was but then I got a call from my parents. They came to town to surprise him. They're on their way."

"Why didn't you just tell them to meet you somewhere else?"

"I tried but we got disconnected and when I tried to call them back I just got voicemail."

"Shit Alice, you haven't gone in the house have you?"

"No, of course not. I'm just waiting for them out front but please Bella."

"Okay, I'll have to take a cab over there so I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Thank you so much." I called a cab and made sure that I had my phone with me and it was charged. I didn't want to worry Edward so I decided not to call him yet. There wasn't anything he could do so I planned on telling him after the fact. A few minutes later the cab pulled up and I gave directions on how to get there. He dropped me off across the street and I jumped out quickly to get to Alice. The cab drove off and was around the corner and out of sight before I made it to the sidewalk.

Alice's car wasn't here. I looked around confused but then I spotted her in the yard. She was walking towards the back. She looked over her shoulder and yelled to me.

"Bella! You have to see what I found." she waved me over. _What_? I looked for signs of Edwards parents but didn't see any. Alice had looked over to me again as I was walking through the yard. I got closer to her and she had continued to walk closer to the garage. I noticed that the door was slightly ajar.

"Alice, where are your parents?"

"Don't worry; I'm sure they'll be here any second."

"Where's your car and what are you doing going through the garage?" I was starting to panic a little. I think she may have lost her mind or something.

"My car's out front. I parked in front of the next door neighbor's house. But you've go to see this. Come on." Hesitantly I walked with her to the garage but before I walked in my phone rang and I looked to see that it was Edward. I had to answer it; I just hoped that he wouldn't be too angry.

"Hey handsome."

"Bella. Where are you?" _Shit._

"Don't get upset okay but I'm at your house."

"Don't get upset? ...WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE BY YOURSELF?" he yelled into the phone.

"Calm down, I'm not by myself Alice is here with me."

Silence. He must be really pissed off.

"Bella? What do you mean you're there with Alice?" he asked in a shaky voice.

"She called me and asked me to meet her here, you're parents are on there way to surprise you and she couldn't get a hold of them to tell them to meet somewhere else. She didn't want to wait here alone."

"No no no, Bella honey, Alice is here with me." I looked to 'Alice' wide eyed and when she looked back at me I could see her eyes go completely black before the same smirk appeared on her lips as 'he' had yesterday morning.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight

Chapter 17

BPOV

Shit. I didn't realize I had dropped the phone until I heard it hit the ground. I started backing up slowly only because I couldn't get my legs to move any faster. I kept _my_ eyes on its face and _its_ eyes hadn't changed back. They were still pitch black and it still looked exactly like Alice while taking a step closer to me.

I could feel the tears running down my face; I had no idea what was going to happen. Without any indication of what it was doing it suddenly disappeared. I looked around frantically I turned to run and I found myself not being able to breathe.

It felt like hands around my throat but I couldn't see anyone. My instincts were to try and pull whatever it was away from me but nothing was there, at least that I could grab onto.

I was choking and for a minute I thought it was actually going to kill me. I was vaguely aware of a car driving by and stopping in front of the neighbor's house. I fell to the ground and just before I started to lose consciousness it let go. I was gasping for air and tried standing up but I lost my balance quickly and landed back on my knees.

After my second attempt to stand had failed I started crawling towards the people who were now getting out of their car and walking to their house. I was breathing so hard and was trying to catch my breath that I think I started hyperventilating. I could hear someone speaking to me but I couldn't understand what was being said.

Someone grabbed my arm and led me to the stairs leading to Edward's porch. I wanted to tell them we had to move but I couldn't find my voice. I'm not sure how much time had past but I could suddenly hear Edward.

"Bella!" he yelled and I turned to see him running over to me.

"Dr. Cullen, I'm so glad you're here." I heard a woman say.

"What happened? Is she okay?" I recognized Alice. I cringed back at the sight of her only because I wasn't sure if it was the real Alice or not but looking into her eyes and seeing the fear and concern there I was certain it was her.

"I have no idea, we were just getting home when we saw her crawling over to the sidewalk, and she was gasping for air at first and then started hyperventilating. She hasn't been able to speak to us yet."

"Bella?" I heard Edward again as he had grabbed my wrist and was taking my pulse.

"Here Edward." I heard Alice again as she handed him a paper McDonald's bag.

"Sweetheart I need you to breath into the bag." He said as he held it up to my face. I grabbed a hold of it and after a few minutes I was breathing normally again.

"Is she going to be alright?" the woman asked.

"She'll be fine, thank you for your help." Edward said not taking his eyes off of me. I watched them walk away as Edward lifted me off of the steps and dragged me away from his house and over to his car before hugging me tightly. I winced at the shooting pain that I could feel across my back.

"What is it, what's wrong?" he asked as he pulled back quickly.

"My back feels like it's on fire." I said as Alice moved to take a look. I heard her gasp as she started to lift my shirt up.

"Oh my…." She trailed off and Edward quickly made his way around to see that it was.

"Bella" he sighed. Then we heard a loud crash coming from the house and Edward looked back to me in a panic.

"Come on we need to get out of here." They helped me in the car and Edward had peeled out quickly before I even had a chance to ask what they had seen.

"What it is?" I whispered as we were several blocks away now and I could tell we were heading to my house.

"You're back is a little scratched up." Alice said in a small voice, one that I was sure left out some important information.

As we pulled into my driveway Edward helped me out of the car and as we walked in the house he made a B-line for the bathroom leaving me and Alice standing there. Seconds later he was back with his hands full with bandages and disinfectant.

"You need to take your shirt off Bella; I need to take a closer look at your back." I tried to pull it off but it was extremely painful. Alice grabbed the bottom of it and slowly lifted it as it stuck slightly to me and I raised my arms over my heard.

"Holy shit." I heard her whisper.

"What?"

"I didn't realize how um big the uh scratches were." She said and this time I heard her sniffle.

"Let me see." I said walking into my bedroom where there is a full length mirror. I stood with my back to it and looked over my shoulder the best I could….._Scratches_? No these were not just regular scratches.

These were claw marks. Five very distinctive lines running the length of my back. I stared for several minutes not wanting to believe what I was seeing. I looked to see Edward walk in; he moved my hair out of the way and unclasped my bra.

"I'm sorry but this is going to sting." He said as he was about to clean them. I winced as the disinfectant made everything burn worse.

"I'm sorry honey." After he was finished and I put a loose t-shirt on we joined Alice in the other room; she was looking at me with a cross between fear and sadness.

"I'm sorry Bella."

"What? Alice you have nothing to be sorry for believe me this had nothing to do with you." I said reaching for her hand.

"I know but….." She started sobbing.

"Alice really." I started to say when the phone rang. Edward answered it as Alice and I listened for a minute before Edward walked into the other room.

"What did they say?" I asked him when he came back in. I knew it was Varners just based on what little we did hear.

"Frank said that they will be here by 8:30 and that he wants everyone to be here. There are some things he wants to discuss. I told him about today and he said we're going to the house tomorrow."

"We?" I asked.

"That's what he said. Though he didn't give specifics on who the 'we' are going to be." Edward said but I knew.

A minute later he was on the phone again I listened as he called the hospital asking for a couple of days off. He also called Rose, Emmett, and Jasper. He hadn't told them what happened over the phone just that they needed to be here after work. Jasper got here first followed by Rose and finally Emmett.

As each of them arrived I retold my story and showed them my back. We made dinner though no one really ate a whole lot. The Varner's arrived at 9:15.

"Hello again Bella." Frank and Caroline both greeted me as I opened the door.

"Thank you for coming, I'm sorry if you're trip had to be cut short." I said.

"We got everything done that we needed to and it seems that we are needed here more anyway." Caroline reassured me.

"Frank, Caroline, this is Edward, Alice, and Emmett Cullen." I pointed to them. And this is Jasper Whitlock and Rosalie Hale."

"Nice meeting everyone and thank you all for being here." Frank said as he then turned to Edward.

"So Edward, the house is yours correct?"

"Uh, yes it is."

"And Emmett? You're living there as well?" Caroline asked and Emmett nodded.

"Bella already told us everything that has taken place but for those events that she was not present for it would be helpful to hear first hand what happened." As the stories were being told Caroline was making notes.

"I just want to clear up a couple of things here." she asked looking over the papers in her hand carefully.

"Bella, I know that you were the first to experience it but Rosalie and Emmett were the first ones to actually see the manifestation?" I knew they weren't asking about James Jr. or his parents.

"Yes."

"And that was in this house correct?"

"Yes."

"But it was only in the form of a shadow then?" They both nodded.

"Alright, but then it appeared to you Bella but it was in a human-like form?"

"Yes, once at Edward's and then once in the middle of the road." I answered.

"And then of course today's events." Frank said matter of factly while glancing over to Alice. I saw her cringe and Jasper trying to sooth her.

"We are going to go home and get some things prepared. But we will meet you all at the house tomorrow morning at 9:00."

"Is it really necessary for everyone to be there? I of course will be, but can't it just be the three of us?" I asked hopefully.

"I'm going to be there too Bella." Edward spoke up before they had a chance to reply.

"It is my house after all and there is no way I'm letting you go there without me." he said in a final tone.

"Edward."

"He really should be there Bella, in fact all of you should."

"But why?"

"It may be focused on you Bella, but the fact is that it knows who all of you are. We need to make sure it is going to be at the house when we're there. If one or more of you is somewhere else that could potentially serve as a distraction." Frank explained.

Edward took my hand and held it tightly. "It's going to be okay Bella." he whispered.

"You can't know that." I whispered back. He didn't respond other than to kiss my temple and squeeze my hand. The truth is that none of us knew what was going to happen. What if this doesn't work?

"What usually takes place with this sort of thing?" I heard Jasper ask.

"It's different in each case but it's never easy. We are basically performing an exorcism."

"Exorcism? I thought that was only used on people." Emmett said.

"That is what most everyone thinks of first but it can also be done to a place or thing as well. We are going to force it out of where it shouldn't be and right now that is your home."

"But it doesn't always stay there. How can we exorcise something that can come and go as it pleases? Won't it just come back?" Rose asked.

"The window…. or portal as it is also called, is located on the property. We need to close it so it won't be able to come back through." Frank replied.

"So how does that work exactly?" Alice asked. Her voice was still shaking.

"We need to get it to the house. Once it's there we perform our own rituals so to speak to exorcise it from the property and back to where it came from."

"How do we know it will be there when we are?" Edward asked.

"It won't stay gone for long, it resides there. And if Bella is there it will make an appearance. It considers her a threat. She was the one that got the Johnson family to leave, it's well aware that she has an ability that not many others have. It doesn't want anymore interference from her and its extremely angry. It wont pass up the opportunity to…well…..try again especially on its own turf. "

"Great." Rose said sarcastically.

"Try and get some sleep. You're going to need to be ready for tomorrow. And please call if you need anything." Caroline said as they stood up to leave.

"Thank you….for everything." I said.

"You're welcome." She said hugging me. "Try not to worry, we've done this before." She added.

We sat in silence for a moment before Jasper spoke up and suggested we do try and get some sleep. Rose and Emmett went to Rose's room. I offered to let Alice and Jasper take my bed and while Edward and I slept on the pull out in my office but they wouldn't hear of it. Alice reminded me that it was more important for me to be well rested since I would most likely be the center of attention tomorrow. I agreed and Edward and I went to my room.

I climbed into bed to lie next to him. He took my hands between his and stared into my eyes before speaking.

"When this is all over I was thinking of taking a trip to Spokane."

"To see your parents?" I asked knowing they lived there.

"Yeah. Have you ever been there?"

"Nope."

"Maybe I could give you a tour then?" He asked smiling.

"You want me to go with you?"

"I don't want to go anywhere without you." He leaned over and kissed me.

"Won't you get sick of having me around so much?" I asked somewhat teasingly.

"I don't think that will happen. It seems I can't relax when I'm away from you."

"I think that's because of the situation. Once things are back to normal I think you might find that your feelings may change." I told him really considering my words as I thought about what I had just said.

Shit…. What if his feelings about me are only because of the things that have been going on? I started to panic a little bit. I've gotten used to seeing Edward almost daily. My feelings for him have grown so much in such a short time. I think I'd be devastated if after everything is said and done that he might change his mind about me.

I felt his hand cup my face and I refocused my eyes to his. His smile was gentle and loving.

"Bella, I know what you're thinking and you're wrong." He tried to sound soothing I think, but it came out slightly panicked.

"What do you think I'm thinking?" I asked. I wanted to hear him say it.

"You think that my feelings are temporary and that they stem from the things that have happened." He said but I didn't say anything in response so he continued.

"I've never met anyone like you before Bella." I snorted, I couldn't help it.

"Of course not, I'm not a normal person. I'm not _like_ anyone else."

"Stop." He looked at me disapprovingly before speaking again.

"I've never had feelings like this before about anyone. I didn't know that feelings like this even existed. I know I've told you this before but you are the most caring person I have ever known.

You're smart, beautiful and so willing to help people without a second thought to yourself." He kissed my knuckles and chuckled to himself before continuing.

"It's no wonder I'm falling for you." My eyes widened as I looked into his and saw that he was being sincere.

"That's good to know." I said ridiculously scared to admit that I'm feeling the same way, but before I have a chance to talk myself out of it I respond to him.

"I feel the same way about you." I blushed. I suddenly feel like a teenager. I don't know why exactly especially since he said it first. I chalk it up to never having anyone say things like that to me before. I knew it was better not to let my fear get in the way so I kept talking.

"I'm falling for you too Edward." His triumphant smile turned to a frown when he heard me gasp from the pain in my back after I had pulled him to me.

"Are you okay?" he asks practically jumping off of me.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I sighed. He checked my back again to make sure it hadn't started bleeding again. Finally after what seemed like hours we were able to fall asleep.

I was the first one up. I started making breakfast even though I wasn't exactly hungry but I needed to try and not think about the things that were about to happen. Not long after I started cooking Jasper got up and sat with me in the kitchen.

We talked for a while. It was nice having some time to talk with just him. He's a good guy and we really hadn't had the opportunity to be one on one before. Soon enough everyone else started filtering in the kitchen.

The Varner's called at twenty till and told me they were on their way. I turned to face everyone and they were all looking at me expectantly.

"It's time." I said. Nobody said anything but they all got up and walked out the door. We took two cars since we all couldn't fit in one and drove to Edward's house.

"Are you ready?" Frank asked frowning as he looked to the house.

"As I'll ever be." I said. Edward took my hand as we made our way up the stairs, walking in the front door felt ominous.

We all walked in very cautiously. It was eerily quiet. I looked around for any sign that it was here and I saw Caroline look at me.

"He's here." she said. All the color drained from Alice's face as she held onto Jasper. I watched as Frank took a few things out from his bag. We all watched him as he started pouring salt around us in a large circle.

"I thought that was only done on TV." Emmett said.

"I'm afraid not." was Frank's reply. He took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm going to need you to do exactly what I say, no questions asked. And right now I don't want anyone leaving this circle unless we say so, do you understand?"

Everyone agreed and Edward held onto me tightly. Frank took what I knew to be Holy water and walked to each corner of the room while speaking in Latin. I didn't understand what he was saying but I knew what he was doing.

"What is _that_?" I heard Jasper gasp. I followed his gaze into the dinning room. He was staring at the three figurines that Edward adored. The ones of the Cullen siblings that were knelt down in prayer. I looked closer to see that there was blood leaking from their eyes and it was pooling on the floor.

I felt sick to my stomach as I looked at my friends. I thought Rosalie was going to pass out. Emmett led her to the couch that was still inside the circle Frank had made earlier. Suddenly the figures flew through the air right above Rose's head before crashing into the wall.

Frank started speaking louder and Caroline joined in. The house started to shake, and the Varner's disappeared into the other rooms and then up the stairs. I looked up to Edward to see him looking around in fear as things started to crash to the ground.

"What's happening?" Alice asked but no one answered. Suddenly there was an extremely high pitched scream. It didn't stop and it sounded like someone was being tortured. The windows were rattling and everything that was electric turned on and off. Then, without warning it all stopped.

"Is it over?" Emmett asked.

"Not even close." Frank said as he made his way downstairs. "Okay listen, we've been through the house and throughout the property and we've found the portal outside in the garage."

"So what happens now?"

"Caroline and I are going to have to go out there, but we won't be able to close it when _he's _around. We need a distraction." He said looking right at me.

"What do I need to do?" I asked making sure not to look at Edward.

"No way." He started but was cut off.

"We're going be needing all of you I'm afraid." Frank said.

"It has two main objectives, one is to keep the portal open and two, it wants to divide and conquer." Caroline said.

"So what do we do?" I asked again.

"You're job will be to keep it away from the garage while we do what we need to do."

"How are we going to do that?" Rosalie asked.

"I'm going to ask you to split up into smaller groups. It will see you as an easier target that way." Frank said.

"But we will be an easier target that way." Jasper whispered.

"We don't really have a choice at this point, we can't risk anything else coming through. We need it closed now. We're not going to be leaving you completely unprotected." He said motioning to the salt circle and holy water.

"You can't honestly tell me that salt and water are going to be able to stop something that is strong enough to take on a human form that isn't even its own." Rose said gripping onto Emmett.

"It will be enough to slow it down until we can get things taken care of outside and get back into help you." Caroline tried to look reassuring.

Edward ran his hands through his hair at the same time Emmett rubbed his temples. They both looked at each other seemingly having a silent conversation.

"I know you're scared and quite frankly you should be but we don't have a choice at the moment. We need to act now before it's too late and this turns into a much bigger problem than it already is." Frank almost sounded desperate.

"We're in." Edward said.

"Good, now I need you to break off into couples. Alice and Jasper you two stay in the living room and do not leave this circle. Rosalie and Emmett you two should go to the basement." Rosa looked stunned for a moment.

"The basement?" she whispered.

"Yes, but honestly you're better off there than upstairs. The worst spot seems to be coming from the master bath. There is a lot of energy in that room which tells me it frequents there a lot." Frank turned to me and continued.

"Bella, you and Edward will be upstairs." I understood why he needed me to be up there I just wish Edward didn't have to go too.

"Listen carefully. This thing seems to be a master at illusion. You're going to see and hear things that are probably going to be disturbing to say the least but just remember it's just showing you what it wants you to see. Stay inside the circle at all times, whatever you do _do not_ leave it for any reason other than both Caroline and myself coming to get you."

"If it's so good at illusion can't it just appear to look like you too?" Alice asked.

"It can't take on more than one form at a time; you'll know it's really us if we are together. Keep that in mind. It's going to try and trick you and get you alone, so stay together."

Jasper held Alice on the couch. Frank and Caroline both took Emmett and Rose downstairs and got things set up for them before returning to take Edward and me upstairs.

"Bella I'm sure you know that it will most likely be focused on you. Stay strong and we'll be back as soon as we can." They said before leaving us there. I could hear them as they were walking back down the stairs. Speaking in Latin again, that seemed to anger it more.

Edward sat next to me and was holding me so tightly I thought my hand would break. When I first heard the screams I thought it was either Rose or Alice and my instinct was to go to them.

Edward didn't budge and pulled me back over to him.

"No Bella, we need to stay here." he whispered. I nodded in response and moved back to where he was. I'm not sure what I was expecting but things didn't seem so bad at the moment. I wondered what was going on with everyone else.

"How do you think its going? Outside I mean." Edward spoke so softly I barely heard him.

"I'm not sure but I think they know what they're doing, I just hope they do it quickly." I said looking around the room. I noticed out of the corner of my eye a black spider run across the floor. Edward followed my gaze and spotted it. He noticed the look on my face and he stood up and then stepped on it.

As soon as he did another one ran by I knew something wasn't right. It seemed to be running in the same direction the last one did. Edward stepped on this one also but then I noticed he had one on his pant leg.

"Edward." I said and pointed to the spider. He brushed it off and stood back up. as another ran by.

"What the hell?" He bent down again and lifted up his pant leg and smacked one that was on him before standing again. He was about to say something when another one ran from his hairline across his face. I froze for a second before I quickly brushed it off.

I looked to the ground to see where it went only to find dozens on the floor. I stepped on as many as I could as Edward did the same. I saw that one ran up the sleeve of his shirt so I quickly reached for the hem trying to pull it off only to find bites all over his chest.

"Shit." I pulled back the shower curtain so I could turn on the water thinking that if there were anymore hidden on him he could wash them off. But as I reached for the fawcett I gasped as I saw them coming up through the drain.

I turned the water on anyway trying to drown as many as I could. Suddenly there was a buzzing sound and the lights got extremely bright. I looked to Edward and saw the panic on his face. The next moment the lights went back to normal and the spiders were gone.

I stood there stunned and Edward held me tightly. He stroked my hair but I could feel him trembling. I pulled back to look at him and even though the spiders were gone he was still covered in bites marks.

"I'm so sorry Edward."

"This isn't your fault sweetheart." I didn't answer him. I might not have caused this but this was the type of thing he would have to get used to being around if he planned on staying with me.

"What is taking so long?" Edward asked rhetorically. Some time later I could hear the commotion from outside and hear Alice and Jasper from the living room. The sounds of footsteps on the stairs scared me but I was soon relieved when I saw that Frank and Caroline walked into the bedroom.

"We've closed the portal in time, nothing else made it through. But we all need to get back down to the living room and stay together. It's going retaliate now and we'll stand a better chance if we're together."

Edward started to pull me from the room when something hit me hard from behind. I fell forward pushing into Edward as he fell to the ground. I was suddenly disoriented and everything was blurry before the bathroom door slammed shut.

I heard the three of them from the other side of the door but it sounded like I was in a tunnel. I couldn't focus on anything. My vision started to return to normal as I looked around the room. My eyes stopping on the mirror. I screamed but no sound was coming from me as I looked upon the terrifying image. The reflection was staring back at me trying to scream too so I knew it was me, but the eyes…. my eyes were pitch black with tears of blood seeping out just like the figureines downstairs.

I tried for the door but my head was spinning again before I blacked out. The next thing I was aware of was opening my eyes to see Edward leaning over me; relief was clear on his face.

"Oh Bella, you have got to stop scaring me like this." he chuckled a little. He seemed so relaxed I wondered what had happened while I was out.

"Does this mean he's gone?"


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight.

Chapter 18

BPOV

Something wasn't right because all of the sudden the image was gone. It was like it was a hologram or something that just disappeared. I looked around to see that I was still in the bathroom and was lying on the floor.

I felt pain on my throat and I knew I had been attacked again. I could hear Edward calling me and pounding on the door. I felt like I was going crazy. So it wasn't Edward that was with me a minute ago. This was definitely messing with my head. I knew I should be getting out while I was seemingly alone but it was like I was a deer caught in the head lights, I just couldn't move.

With a couple more loud crashes the door burst open and Frank practically fell to the floor and Edward rushed past him to get to me. At the first sight of Edward I was relieved but that quickly turned into fear not sure whether or not to believe what I was seeing.

EPOV

As I fell to the ground I lost my grip on Bella's hand. I started to get up quickly to reach her again but the door slammed shut. I reached for the handle but of course it wasn't opening.

"Bella!" I shouted. I couldn't hear anything coming from the other side of the door and that worried me more than anything. I was aware that Caroline and Frank were doing something but my focus was trying to get to Bella.

Suddenly Caroline stopped her movements are turned her head sharply to look me in the eye. She held up one of her hands telling me to stop while taking another finger to her mouth indicating to be quiet and I did as she instructed. Frank did the same and we just listened for what seemed like forever.

"He's in there." She whispered. "We need to get her out." Caroline then looked to Frank giving him a pointed look. He looked back at her anxiously but nodded once. I watched at she stepped out of the circle and walk into the hall.

I wasn't sure what was going on but I wasn't about to question anything that would help Bella. A loud thud turned my attention back to Frank as he tried to break the door down. When it didn't work Caroline stepped farther away and started speaking quietly.

Frank tried the door again only to be met with a loud thud for the second time. With Caroline getting louder and speaking more quickly there was suddenly an ear splitting sound and I had to cover my ears.

Frank moved quickly then and made a move for the door again. This time it opened and I pushed past Frank to reach Bella, Frank rushed back out of the room and into the hall where his wife was. Bella was on the floor and she looked up at me in shock.

"Bella, are you." I didn't finish my question because the look on her face startled me. She looked at me with terror in her eyes she wasn't moving but she was breathing very heavily. My eyes scanned her body for any injuries and they stopped when I noticed there were bruises forming on her throat.

"Edward, get downstairs _now_." I heard Frank yell to me. I looked back to Bella and she had reached her hand to me hesitantly.

"Honey we have to move." I grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the room with me and dragged her into the hall where the Varner's were waiting. Caroline was looking around franticly before her head jerked back to look behind her.

"Go." She shouted and I dashed down the stairs as fast as I could with Bella trailing behind me. I could see Emmett, Alice, Rosalie and Jasper now standing on the edge of the circle holding each other while watching us run to them.

Rose gasped when she saw us. I'm sure it was due to the bruises on Bella's neck. I sat her down on the couch so I could check her over. She seemed to be in a state of shock more than anything. She was still breathing heavily and still hadn't spoken. The house shook some more and the walls started bleeding as we watched in horror.

The screaming was getting louder and I wondered if any of the neighbors would be able to hear what was going on. I couldn't focus on the Varner's as I was too busy focusing on Bella but I was aware that something was happening.

"Sweetheart I need you to take deep slow breaths. You're going to hyperventilate if you don't slow down." Her breathing had become quite erratic and I didn't want her passing out.

"What the hell?" Emmett said looking at her bruises. I looked up at him.

"I'm not sure." It went quiet. Eerily quiet but I could practically feel the tension of the room ease.

"He's gone." I heard Caroline say and I couldn't believe it.

"You're sure?" Emmett questioned. Frank then lit what he said was sage and started walking around the room with it.

"Yes."

"For good?" Alice asked.

"Frank and I will do a sweep of the house and property to make sure."

"I'll come with you." Bella croaked out.

"It's better if Frank and I do this alone. If it is just hiding I don't need you getting hurt again." The two of them started going through each of the rooms again.

"Honey, are you okay?" I said pulling Bella close to me and her attention was back on me. She nodded but the tears were pouring out again.

"My uh neck hurts pretty badly." I tried to be gentle as I checked for any damage and she winced.

"I'm sorry sweetheart." Everyone else came to sit down by us. The Varner's came back downstairs and it was easy to see that they were relaxed. I watched as they went out the back door and outside again.

After several minutes they came back and reassured us that it was in fact over and he was gone and the portal was still closed. There was a collective sigh but we well silent after that lost in our own thoughts.

"Bella, can you come by the office tomorrow around noon? I'd really like to discuss a few things."

"Yes of course. And again thank you so much for everything you've done." I pulled frank aside and thanked him myself and discussed payment that I insisted on giving them.

Everyone else said their goodbyes to them and it left the six of us left in the living room.

"Can we get out of here?" Alice asked breaking the silence again.

"Please." Rose said standing up. We decided on going back to Bella's and ordering pizza. No one really wanted to go out we were all so tired. After Jasper and Alice left to go home the Rosalie and Emmett disappeared into her bedroom.

"Do you mind if I take a shower?" Bella asked.

"Not at all, maybe you should take a bath. It might help you relax a little."

"No thanks, the last bath I took didn't turn out so well for me."

"He's not coming back." I said hoping that it would re-assure her.

"I know, but I think I'll just stick with the shower anyway." She said leaning over to kiss me before heading for the bathroom.

I stayed where I was on the couch and Emma jumped up onto my lap. We had moved her over here when things started getting really bad. My phone buzzing in my pocket startled me. Looking to see it was my mom I answered it.

"Hi mom."

"Oh Edward I wasn't expecting you to answer."

"I know, I'm sorry but I've been busy."

"It's okay I understand. Listen honey, you're father and I were thinking of taking a trip down to see you kids."

I had told Bella that I wanted to take a trip home mostly because I wanted to introduce her to my parents but maybe it would be better if they did come here. I was going to have to make up for taking time off of work and packing things up.

"Yeah actually I think it would be great to see you and I really want you to meet Bella."

"Oh Edward, I can't wait to meet her. When can we come?"

"How about the weekend after next?" She agreed and I convinced her that it was a better idea to stay with Alice; I could tell she was a little suspicious but didn't question me.

I heard the water turn off and I made my way to Bella's room walking by the bathroom door as she opened it.

"Hey." I said stupidly as I was staring at her while she was trying to hold up her towel.

"Hey, did you um want to take a shower?"

"Actually that would probably be a good idea." I went straight into the bathroom and turned on the cold water. Once I got out I realized in my haste I didn't bring in a change of clothes.

I walked into the bedroom seeing Bella sitting on the edge of her bed. She looked up to see me and blushed a little.

"Sorry, I uh forgot my clothes."

"No need to be sorry Edward." She said while her eyes were on me, well my body, not so much my face. I was glad she wasn't paying attention or she would have seen me blush too.

BPOV

I was having trouble keeping my eyes off his chest which still had some drops of water running down it. The last time he came out of the bathroom in just a towel was the closest that we had come to having sex and that only lasted for a few minutes before we had been interrupted by Emmett.

I watched him as he found his clothes and changed. I was glad that he felt comfortable enough to not have to go back into the bathroom to get dressed but I really wish he would have just come over to lay down next to me in that towel like he had before.

I wondered if it was wrong of me to be thinking about sex after the day we've had.

"I can't believe it's over." I said as he pulled me to him.

"I know me neither."

"Things are going to be so different now."

"Different in a good way though." I smiled when he said that. I couldn't help but lean over and kiss him.

"You're sure you still want me around though?" I knew he had already said he would but I really needed to hear it again.

"I thought we already discussed this. Of course I still want you around. In fact it's really going to suck since I don't have the excuse of making sure you're safe to spend the night with you anymore."

"You don't need an excuse to spend the night with me Edward."

"That's good to know." And he kissed me much more passionately this time. He pulled back and stared at me in silence for a minute.

"I think I'm going to move."

"I was wondering if you were going to want to after everything."

"I know he's gone but it will still feel too weird."

"I think so too."

"I'll call Mrs. Newton in the morning."

"Do you think that you're going to buy another house right away?" I asked secretly hoping that he wouldn't want to. What I really wanted him to do was to move in with me but I knew that that would be rushing things.

"No, I was thinking about just getting an apartment for now." I smiled.

"That's probably a good idea. How do you think Emmett will feel?"

"The same way, he doesn't want to stay there anymore than I do and I know he's not ready to buy a house just yet."

"Is that what he said?"

"Yeah, his plan is to just rent for a while and then maybe see what Rosalie's plans are for the future. I think that he is hoping that they will be moving in together at some point."

"Wow, he's pretty serious."

"He is."

"You don't think that it's too soon then, you know to be planning for such a serious commitment so soon after they just met?"

"No, I completely understand where he is coming from."

"You do?"

"Yes…..it just so happens that I feel the same way."

"And here I thought that you were more interested in me than Rosalie." I laughed at my incredibly lame joke. He just looked at me incredulously and shook his head.

"Oh I am."

"Maybe you should prove it."

"You want me to prove it?"

"Yes." I tried to sound sexy but I think it just came out like I was out choking.

"That I can do." He kissed me again this time pulling himself half way on top of me. He slipped his hands under my shirt and over my bare chest. It felt so incredible when he started to pull it up and kiss my stomach.

He looked up at me in question as he lifted my shirt higher to expose my breasts. I looked at him in the eye hoping to convey the message that I wanted him to keep going. He did and soon his mouth was gently sucking on my right nipple.

I moaned in satisfaction as he switched to the other one. I had my hands in his hair and pulled him up slightly to kiss my lips again. I really had no intention of doing this tonight but I just couldn't bring myself to stop.

I reached for his shirt and pulled it off of him quickly. He started kissing my shoulders carefully avoiding my neck since it was still pretty sore. I could feel his erection pressing up against my body and before I could stop myself I reached down and slid my hand inside his pants to grasp him.

This time he moaned and pressed him self further against me. Feeling extremely bold I hooked my fingers around his boxers and pulled them down as far as I could. He kicked his them off along with his pants and pulled me onto his naked body.

I felt his hands around the waistband of my pants and he started to pull the off when he just stopped and rolled me to the side.

"What's wrong?" I asked as he looked a little pained.

"I uh don't have any um condoms." He said closing his eyes.

"Me neither but um I am on the pill and I have been tested since the last time I had sex and well I'm uh clean." He smiled at me triumphantly and immediately started kissing me again.

"Me too." he mumbled against my lips. He didn't waste any time taking the rest of my clothes off until we were both lying next to each other completely naked.

He settled in between my legs and stroked my check while looking into my eyes.

"You're sure?"

"Yes." He kissed me again but this time much more slowly. I felt the tip of him press against me. I whimpered a little as he took his time while he entered me. I closed my eyes at the sensation. He was incredible.

He moved slowly at first but as I wrapped my legs around his waist he picked up his pace. He gave me my first ever orgasm during sex. Sad I know, but still true.

Being with Edward was the most amazing thing I've ever experienced. It made me completely forget all about the days events. At least until I woke up the next morning knowing I had to go and meet Frank and Caroline.

"How are you doing Bella?" Caroline asked.

"Good, now." They asked me about the things that happened when I was alone. We talked about some of their other experiences with dark entities and while the things they said were very re-assuring I still had to ask again.

"You're sure he's gone and won't be back?" I knew they already answered this question numerous times but I just felt like I needed to hear it once more. This was the first time I had experienced anything like this and I felt like maybe he had a personal vendetta against me or something.

"Bella, we've been doing this for years and like you already know a dark entity can't appear on its own, they need to be invited in. That Laurent guy did just that. He got involved with dark magic and this was the result. We exorcised the entity off the property and the portal is closed.

"What happens next time someone does what Laurent did? What if someone else opens another portal?"

"I don't think that is something that you have to worry about."

"So you're saying that it can't happen?"

"No, I'm saying that while things like this do happen we have rarely seen the same dark entity more than once."

"But it has happened?" Frank sighed deeply like he didn't want to answer this question.

"Yes, but only a couple times before."

"Wonderful." I said sarcastically.

"Bella, this isn't something that you need to worry about. This is our job. We deal with dark entities regularly. It was bound to happen sooner or later." Caroline said.

"This is the first one you have run across and it will most likely be your last. Remember that we are called in on cases like this. It's not like we stumble on to situations like these on our own. I really don't think you have anything to worry about." Frank said trying to convince me.

"Okay." I finally agreed. We talked for a while longer, it seems they write up all of their experiences for study and so they had a few more questions to ask and I finally got home at 3:30.

Edward was there waiting for me. I couldn't help the smile on my face, especially remembering last night.

"How did it go?" he asked.

"Fine, how about you? What did Mrs. Newton say?"

"She was surprised of course but didn't ask too many questions. She thinks that it won't take very long especially with all of the renovations I had done."

"Good."

"Yeah, I just want to be done with it…..Um so do you want to help me look for an apartment this weekend?"

"Oh, uh sure."

"Emmett and Rosalie are going too." I didn't say anything I just nodded. I knew it was for the best. The four of us couldn't continue to all live here. It was nice but also a little crowded.

"So does that mean I get to keep Emma? I think she likes me better anyway." I said trying to lighten the mood.

"What? She does not." he said trying to look appalled.

"I'm afraid she does." Somehow we ended up in a tickling match and I was loosing. Edward was straddling me with his knees pinning my arms to the floor while his hands were free to do what they wanted to.

And while it started off innocently enough, the tickling soon turned to groping and we were suddenly making out on the floor in the living room.

I heard someone clear their throat. I looked over Edwards shoulder to see an amused looking Emmett with a shocked Rosalie standing next to him.

"Are we interrupting something?" Edward heard that and quickly climbed off of me before helping me stand up.

"Yes." He answered.

"So, I just heard from mom." Emmett said as if he hadn't just walked in on us. I looked over to Edward who smiled apologetically.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. They'll be here next weekend."

"More specifically to meet Bella and Rosalie." I think Rose's eyes got as big as mine did.

"Uh yeah, I think so." Edward smiled as did Emmett.

"Not that I'm opposed or anything but the least you could have done was given me some warning. I had no idea you told them you wanted them to meet Bella. I didn't even have a chance to consider if Rosie was ready to meet them before I got sucked in."

"Sorry about that."

"So we're meeting the parents." I said to Rose as she looked a little panicked before nodding her head.


	19. Chapter 19

I do not own twilight

Chapter 19

_Edward had just finished making love to me and we stared lovingly into each others eyes. _

"_I love you." He said and I smiled automatically. _

"_I love you too."_

"_We'll be together forever." He said holding my hand and running his thumb over the ring finger of my left hand._

"_You can't escape me now." He continued._

"_Escape you?" His wording left me feeling somewhat confused._

"_You're mine for all of eternity. You can never get away." He smirked looking down out my naked body. I began to feel a little uncomfortable. I had no intention of being without Edward but the tone he was using was starting to freak me out. _

"_Edward." I started to say when his eyes flashed in hatred._

"_Don't call me Edward." He roared. I sat up quickly and moved away from him but he caught me by the wrist. I watched as his eyes darkened all the way to black. I tried screaming but he covered my mouth with his._

"Bella, honey wake up!" I heard a voice call to me but I couldn't tell where it was coming from.

"Wake up baby it's me." My eyes opened quickly and I saw that Edward was shaking me awake looking at me with nothing but concern.

"You're okay, it was only a dream." I nodded trying to catch my breath. He pulled me to him and engulfed me in a hug. He kissed the side of my head and I started to relax as I leaned into him.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked quietly. I still hadn't found my voice yet and so I just shook my head. After several minutes of him holding me and rocking me back and forth he pulled back to look at me. We'd been going through this same routine every morning since…. everything happened.

I hated how everything changed. I used to know that it was going to be okay. But now? …. I'm just not so sure. I heard reassurances from everyone that there was nothing to be afraid of anymore but I couldn't help how I felt.

"Sweetheart, I have to go into work today, they're short staffed so it will probably be for most of the day." He was still watching me closely, like I might fall apart any second. Honestly that's how I felt. I nodded in response. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. I was unsure, stressed out and really paranoid. The nightmares that were plaguing me were taking their toll. I couldn't get a good nights sleep and I was constantly looking over my shoulder.

"I can make you some breakfast while you take a shower." Edward offered.

"That would be nice." I said getting up. I went into the bathroom. Less than 30 minutes later I was dressed and walking into the kitchen. I heard Edward talking on the phone and I didn't want to interrupt his call so I turned around to go into the other room when I heard my name. I stopped abruptly and listened just out of sight.

"I'm really worried." I heard him say and I wondered who he was talking to.

"Yeah, she has… No she doesn't want to talk about them… No, I haven't heard her say anything specifically but the screams are loud enough that they are waking up Emmett and Rosalie…. I don't think so; Rosalie asked me if _I_ knew what's been going on… I don't want to push her but maybe she'll open up to you if she's not ready to talk about it to me… I don't know, maybe she'll feel more comfortable with you since you know… Okay, I'll have her call you… Thanks Leah.

I waited another minute before I walked back into the room. His back was to me as he was taking the milk out of the fridge.

"Cereal?" I asked raising my eyebrow at him as he turned around.

"Trust me this is much better than anything I could cook, not to mention I didn't have enough time for anything for elaborate."

"I'm only teasing you." I said walking over to him giving him a kiss.

"Leah called while you were in the shower."

"Oh? What did she say?"

"She asked how you were doing and she said she wanted you to come by today and see her and the baby. I told her I'd have you give her a call."

"Okay, I'll call her later." I walked him to the door and gave him a kiss goodbye. I called Leah back and she asked if I wanted to come over and see her and the baby. I stopped off at starbucks and picked up a coffee for both of us on my way to her house.

"You're a life saver." Leah exclaimed when she saw the coffee.

"I figured you could use one."

"You have no idea. The only sleep I get is in spurts, not that I'm complaining or anything but I'm just so tired."

"I can only imagine."

"Do you want to hold her?"

"Of course." I answered as she passed her daughter to me.

"She's so beautiful."

"She really is." After catching up and hearing all the stories about how funny Jake is trying to change diapers Isabella fell asleep in my arms.

"So what's going on with you and Edward?"

"Things are good."

"Just good?"

"More than good, pretty great actually."

"How are you doing with… everything else?"

"I don't know." I said and she waited for me to continue.

"I just feel like this isn't over, like something else is going to happen only nothing has….. Yet."

"So you're saying that you think it's still here?"

"Yes, no, maybe. I feel completely off and I wonder if there's something wrong with me because no one else seems to be upset by it."

"Nothings wrong with you Bella, you went through a pretty traumatic experience of course it's going to affect you."

"Yeah but so did everyone else and they seem fine."

"But they didn't have the same experiences you did; it would surprise me if this didn't bother you more than anyone else." She reached out and touched my arm and sighed deeply.

"Edward's worried about you."

"I know, I heard him talking to you on the phone this morning."

"He said you've been having nightmares pretty much every night for almost two weeks."

"Yeah."

"So are you going to tell me about them?" I ended up explaining what I had seen in the bathroom that day at Edwards and how the dreams were very similar. And why I didn't want to upset him by telling him what they were about.

"He's worried that you're pulling away from him."

"He is?"

"Yes…You're not are you?"

"I'm not trying to, I just didn't want to worry him. He's got enough stuff to worry about he doesn't need to add me to the list."

"Too late, he's already worried, not only about you but about your relationship."

"_Great_." I said sarcastically.

"Talk to him?"

"Yeah, hopefully I'll have a chance before his parents get here."

"Oh yeah, you're meeting the parents. That's a pretty big step." She said and I smiled.

"It is. I'm nervous though. They're coming tomorrow."

"It's natural to be nervous, meeting your future in-laws and all." she smirked.

"You're getting a little ahead of yourself aren't you?"

"I don't think so. My bet is you'll be engaged by Christmas."

"You're full of it. Besides he might not want to after I meet his parents."

"Give him some credit please. I'm sure he's already filled them in on you quite a bit and even if they didn't approve I really don't think that would stop him."

I thought about Leah's words over and over again as I drove back to my house. I took the long way around not wanting to drive down the street that I had crashed into the telephone pole. Edward's parents were going to be here tomorrow and with my lack of sleep I was really feeling on edge. I thought about taking a nap but not wanting to risk more nightmares I decided to do something productive.

Laundry was the easiest task so I took the basket of clothes and flipped on the light switch at the top of the basement stairs. It didn't do a lot of good since one of the bulbs was burnt out but I managed to make it down the stairs without tripping.I had to maneuver my way around the stacks of boxes on my way to the washing machine. As I finished sorting and threw a load of Edward's clothes in I started back for the stairs.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw something move. I heard a scratching sound and then came face to face with two reflective eyes looking back at me. I screamed loudly but I couldn't move. A second later Emma jumped out from behind the boxes. I closed my eyes with my hand over my heart as I focused on getting my breathing back to normal. It was just Emma. I needed to get a grip. I was freaking out at every turn. It was over and I needed to stop looking for things that weren't there.

After that mini-episode I started with getting things organized. Last weekend instead of apartment hunting the six of us packed up Edward's house. It was weird being there and we all just packed things up as fast as we could. We moved most of the stuff to storage and the things that the boys were going to need on a regular basis ended up at my place. Emmett did find an apartment two days ago that was nearby and available.

Right now I'm the only one with extra time on my hands so I've been moving small loads over for him. I loaded up my truck and drove the 5 minutes it took to get there. I let myself in with the key he made for me and I started to unload. They guys had moved the mattress and box springs already so I decided to get things set up. I put the bed together and found the box that had sheets and things.

I heard the front door open. I looked at my watch wondering if it was later than I realized or if Emmett was off work early. I walked out of the bedroom and down the hall but I didn't see him but I did see the door hanging wide open. Startled, I looked around to see if there were some other 'visitors'. I jumped when I heard Emmett's voice right behind me.

"Hey Bella."

"Oh! Hey Em."

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to scare you."

"No, it's fine. I've just been a little jumpy lately." I smiled at him.

"You sure you're okay? You look like you've seen a gho…. Never mind."

"I um I heard the door open so I came out to check."

"Yeah I was I didn't realize you were here at first. I was just bringing in some stuff from my car, I ran back for another box."

"That explains it." I smiled at him. I helped him get some more stuff unloaded from his car and spent some time unpacking. We got things done pretty quickly with the two of us working together.

"So are you ready to meet the parents tomorrow?" He teased.

"No."

"Don't worry they'll love you."

"I'm not so sure."

"They will, I promise." He said giving me a re-assuring hug.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Bella, Edward told us you're an author." I could feel my heart rate pick up and my palms were sweating.

"Um, yes I am, and Rosalie is my publisher." I tried unsuccessfully to change the subject. Edwards's father turned to Rose and started asking her questions about her job then. But as soon as I let me self relax, Esme had other ideas.

"What kind of books do you write? I would love to read what you have written." She looked so sincere I was sure that Edward hadn't told her anything about it. I wasn't sure what to say but luckily Edward intervened.

"Bella has written many successful books on the paranormal." He said squeezing my hand. The look on Esme's face was nothing other than surprise.

"Oh. That sounds fascinating dear." She continued to ask questions about the subject and eventually asked how I got started writing about the paranormal. I reluctantly explained my ability to her but she didn't let on what she was really thinking about. After a few more minutes I needed to get out of there and excused myself to get a drink.

"Bella?" I turned to face Esme as she joined me in the kitchen. "I hope I haven't made you uncomfortable."

"No, not at all." I blushed.

"I've never personally had any experiences with that sort of thing but I do remember stories my grandmother used to tell me about her childhood."

"Oh?"

"Uh-huh. She used to tell us that she could see things in the future, things that hadn't happened yet. When she was young she talked about it to her family but they didn't have time for 'silly games' as they put it. Apparently she was pretty gifted. I wish that I had known her better. She died when I was still pretty young."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. You know my mother always complained that she never got any sort of gift passed down to her. She heard it was a genetic trait. I used to wish for that too when I was a child."

"I've heard the same thing. Though I'm not sure if I would want my child to have to go through the sorts of things that I did. It was really hard when I was growing up, though that was probably due to my mother and step-father."

"I take it they weren't very supportive."

"To say the least, they shipped me off to live with my father when it got too much for them. But as it turned out that was the best thing they ever could have done for me."

"I'm sure it would be different for your child with all the understanding and support you would give." She smiled at me and I blushed again wondering if she would think the same thing if it were her grandchild.

"Thank you Esme."

"You're welcome sweetie. I'm really glad Edward found you." I didn't know how to respond to that so I just smiled at her. She reached for my hand while she spoke.

"You're good for him. I can see how happy he is and that is all a parent ever really wants for their child. Both of my boys are happy now. You and Rosalie are both exceptional young women, and I'm happy that you've found each other." She said and then winked.

The rest of the night I felt much more at ease. At least Edwards mother didn't think I was nuts. I wasn't sure about his dad yet, especially when the subject of Edward's house came up.

He reluctantly told them the story, of course leaving out certain details but gave them the Cliff Notes version and that he decided to move.

"So where are you living now?" Carlisle asked.

"We've been staying with Bella and Rosalie but um Emmett just found an apartment so we've been moving him over bit by bit." Edward explained. Neither of his parents made any comment about his lack of finding his own place.

I wondered if they thought he was going to be moving in with me. I kind of wondered about that myself. We had talked and the original plan was for them both to find a place but neither me or Edward has brought it up since then.

The rest of the weekend went very well. Esme took Rose, Alice and I out shopping while Carlisle went golfing with Edward, Emmett and Jasper. Afterwards the eight of us joined up again for dinner.

Rose, Jasper and I decided to leave together as we thought that Carlisle and Esme would want to spend some time alone with their children. I was a little surprised when Jasper said he would follow us to my house.

I had expected him to go home, not that he wasn't welcome, but it was just unexpected. I made some coffee for us as we sat down on the couch.

"So what did you girls think?" He asked.

"I really like them both." I said and it was true. Especially after Esme went out of her way to make me feel so welcome.

"Especially Esme, she was really understanding about everything." I continued.

"I really like them both too. Not that I didn't like Esme but I mostly talked to Carlisle. We really hit it off." Rosalie said.

"It's hard not to love them. It makes everything easier." Jasper said somewhat mysteriously.

"Makes what easier?" Rose questioned.

"I'm going to ask Alice to marry me."

"What!" We both yelled in unison. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a ring box. As he opened it I felt my jaw drop open.

"Do you think she'll like it?" I could tell how nervous he was.

"Jasper it's beautiful." I said reaching out to touch it. The ring was gorgeous.

"She'll love it." Rose added.

"It's exactly like something I would want." I could feel the heat on my cheeks as I said it aloud. I looked up to see both Rose and Jasper smirking at me.

"When are you going to ask her?" I said changing the subject.

"I was thinking next weekend." He said. He told us how he planned to take her to the beach for a few days and propose while they sat on the sand watching the sunset. He had remembered her telling him how romantic something like that would be when another friend of hers was proposed to in a similar way. He stayed for a while longer before he decided he better get home.

I changed into my pajamas and met Rose back on the couch. She had two pints of Ben and Jerry's and I looked at her questioningly.

"I wasn't sure how things were going to go with Emmett's parents and I wanted some comfort food just in case." She explained as she handed me my strawberry cheesecake ice cream with a spoon.

"I feel like I haven't talked to you much lately. How are you doing with everything?" She asked.

"I'm fine."

"Bella." She said in a tone that I knew I better tell her what's been going on.

"I've been having nightmares and I'm doing a lot of freaking out unnecessarily."

"I know, we can hear you screaming at night. And you have every right to freak out."

"I guess."

"What are the nightmares about?" She questioned. I took a deep breath and told her. I watched as she shuddered. She held out her carton of cookie dough and switched it with mine.

"Have you told Edward about it?"

"Not yet but I will."

"He's worried about you, we all are."

"I know but you have nothing to worry about. I'll be fine. I always am, I just need a little more time to work this one out."

"You know you can talk to me anytime right? You're my best friend and I don't want you to feel like you're in this alone."

"I know, thank you." I said stealing my ice cream back but I could tell she wanted to say more.

"What is it?" I asked and she smiled at me.

"Emmett is almost moved into his new place." She said looking down.

"It's going to be weird not having him here isn't it." I asked her.

"Yeah it is but I think it is a good idea." She said quietly and I got a little concerned.

"Everything's going okay for you two isn't it?"

"Everything's fine."

"But?"

"But, remember what we talked about before? How I've never lived on my own? It's either been my parents, you or Royce?"

"Yeah."

"Well, we talked about things and I still want the chance to do that. Edward gave me Mrs. Newton's number and well, she's going to help me buy a house." She said sheepishly.

"Rose, that's great!"

"It is?"

"Isn't it?"

"You don't feel like I'm abandoning you?"

"What? No of course not. I knew you wouldn't be staying here forever."

"I know, it's just the timing maybe. I feel a little guilty."

"Please don't, I swear I'm fine and I think you really should have a chance to live on your own. How does Emmett feel?"

"He thinks it's a great idea. I explained everything to him and he knows it's important to me. He said as long as I agree to some sleepovers every now and then he's fine with it."

"I'm happy for you Rose."

"You'd tell me though if you needed me to stay wouldn't you?"

"I would but like I said before I'm fine."

"But that was before….."

"I know but that doesn't change anything. Where are you looking?"

"Nearby of course."

"Good, I don't want you too far away."

"What are you going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I just wondered if you were planning on moving too."

"Why would I do that?"

"I just didn't know if it bothered you being here after what happened."

"Um….well, it probably won't be the last time I have things like that happen and it seems to be _me_ it's centered around so no matter where I go so will everything else."

"What are Edward's plans?"

"We haven't talked about it much. A few weeks ago he said he planned on getting an apartment when he sold his house."

"You haven't talked about him staying here?"

"No, we haven't talked about it." I said as the phone rang. I got up to answer it as Rose took our spoons to the kitchen.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me. My mom wanted to know if we could all meet for breakfast in the morning before they leave."

"Breakfast sounds good."

"Great, I'll tell her. I'm about to head home and Em asked if you could tell Rosalie to meet him at the apartment."

"Sure I'll let her know."

"See you in a few minutes."

"Okay."

"Bye."

"Bye." I hung up the phone and couldn't help the smile on my face when Edward said he was heading _home_. I really liked the sound of that.

"That was Edward I take it?" Rose smirked at me.

"Yes, it was. Esme and Carlisle want to meet for breakfast in the morning before they leave and Emmett wants you to meet him at his place and they are on their way home."

"Do you want me to wait until Edward gets here?"

"You do realize I've been home alone before don't you?"

"I know, I'm just worried."

"Don't be, Edward's on his way and you don't want to keep Emmett waiting." I smirked at her. Rose left and I brushed my teeth while I waited for Edward. I had a hard time keeping my eyes open as I sat on the couch and waited for him to get here. I started dozing off a little and I was vaguely aware that the front door opened. I felt Edward's arms around me as he lifted me to his chest.

"Come on sweetheart, let's get you to bed." I heard him whisper.

I felt him put me down on the bed and pull the covers up over me. I heard the bathroom sink for a minute before he climbed into bed. I felt a kiss on my cheek as he cuddled up behind me.

"Goodnight Bella." He whispered as his arms wrapped around me.

"I love you." He said even more quietly. It was the last thing I heard before sleep overtook me.


	20. Chapter 20

I do not own twilight

Chapter 20

EPOV

I was awoken to the sounds of Bella screaming again. It was very unsettling to say the least. She was terrified, that much was obvious but the gut-wrenching, ear-piercing sounds of pain were haunting me, no pun intended, for the last couple of weeks.

"Bella, honey wake up!" This was a nightly routine for us now. It always takes several attempts to pull her from her nightmares.

"Wake up baby it's me." Her eyes popped open, wide and frightened the screaming stopped and left an eerie silence.

"You're okay, it was only a dream." She nodded trying to catch her breath as I pulled her to me.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She never did. I hated the feeling that she was slowly shutting me out. She shook her head hiding her face in my chest. After a half hour or so I broke the silence.

"Sweetheart, I have to go into work today, they're short staffed so it will probably be for most of the day." I hated to leave her in the state she was in but I had no choice.

"I can make you some breakfast while you take a shower." I said thinking she might be more comfortable having someone home while she did.

"That would be nice." She said speaking for the first time since she woke up. Right after I heard the water to the shower turn on the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hi Edward, its Leah, is Bella around?"

"Hey Leah, um she's in the shower right now but I will tell her you called. How's Isabella?" I asked not having seen her since she was in the hospital.

"She's doing great, thanks for asking. Um... How are you doing, with everything?"

"Okay, still trying to wrap my head around it."

"How's Bella?" she asked cautiously. I found myself blurting out the truth. I told her about the nightmares she's been having and how she never tells me about them. I told her Rosalie has been just as concerned but doesn't seem to know much more than I do.

I found that once I started I couldn't seem to stop unloading everything onto Leah. It felt good to talk to someone about it. I didn't realize how much this whole thing was really weighing on me.

I told her how I was worried that Bella was pulling away from me and how I was scared that maybe this whole thing was turning out to be too much for her and maybe she was unsure about having me in her life. Maybe she just wanted to put it all behind her and that I was too much of a constant reminder.

The truth is I was scared to death. More so of losing Bella than I was about everything that had gone on. It was hard to imagine my life without her now. I know she thought that maybe I was confusing my feelings for her with only feeling gratitude but I knew the truth and I hoped to convince her of it. Leah's words were comforting and she told me she would talk to Bella and do what she could to help.

Bella came into the kitchen shortly afterward she promised to call Leah as I left for work. A few hours into my shift my phone rang. I was hoping that it was Bella and was disappointed that it was mom.

"Hey mom."

"Don't sound so disappointed."

"Sorry, I was just hoping that." And she cut me off.

"That it was Bella. I get it Edward."

"Sorry, so what's up?"

"Your father and I are just getting ready for our visit. I can't wait to meet your lady friend."

"Lady friend? Mom I'm not 80."

"Well what would be a more appropriate term for her then?"

"I suppose girlfriend would cover it for now."

"_For now_?" She asked in excitement. Shit.

"I mean, you know, she's my girlfriend."

"For now." She said and I could hear the smile in her voice.

"Mom."

"Fine. I'm just really happy that you've found someone special; I just want you to be happy Edward. I want all my kids to be happy."

"I am, we are."

"So is it safe to say that Rosalie holds the same title for Emmett?"

"Why don't you call him and ask him yourself. I really need to get back to work."

"Alright dear, see you tomorrow."

"Bye."

"I love you Edward."

"I love you too."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

As we drove over to Alice's house Bella was very quiet expect for the constant fidgeting. I reached over and put my hand on her knee to stop her leg from bouncing up and down. She was making me nervous.I knew she was worried about what my parents would think of her and her profession but I also knew she had nothing to worry about. I tried to calm her down and explained that my parents would love her and even though she said she trusted my judgment her constant tapping told me otherwise.

"Edward!" My mom reached for me and hugged me tightly. Obviously Alice and Jasper were already here and I knew Emmett and Rosalie weren't far behind.

"Mom," I pulled back and grabbed Bella's hand. "This is."

"Bella." she finished for me. She had a really annoying habit of doing that to me. "It's so nice to meet you." She said hugging Bella somewhat awkwardly as I was holding her as well.

"It's nice to meet you too Mrs. Cullen."

"Please call me Esme, and this is my husband Carlisle." My dad stepped forward offering his hand.

"Nice to meet you as well." Just then the sound of Emmett's car pulling into the driveway grabbed everyone's attention. We made our way inside and my parents of course started to ask the girls questions about themselves. I watched as Jasper sat back looking relaxed with his hands clasped behind his head. He looked like he was enjoying this whole scenario since he wasn't the one under the microscope this time.

"Bella, Edward told us you're an author." I heard my mother ask Bella and her hands instantly turned clammy. For a minute I thought she might pass out. She answered politely and tried to deflect the attention but my oblivious mother didn't let that deter her. After Bella told my mom about her abilities she quickly made her escape.

"Is she okay?" Mom asked.

"I think so. She just hasn't had a lot of positive responses from people after she tells them about it. She's worried about how you and dad will feel."

"I'm going to go talk to her." And she stood quickly and followed Bella into the kitchen. I almost gave her a warning but I knew I didn't have to, I could see that my mom really did like Bella. After a minute I couldn't help but get up to go check on them. I stopped short of the kitchen as I overheard their discussion.

"I'm sure it would be different for your child with all the understanding and support you would give." I almost chocked when I heard her say 'your child' unfortunately for me Alice wandered over in an obvious maneuver to stop my eavesdropping. At one point the subject of my house came up and so I explained to my parents what had been taking place. They seemed calm but I could see their underlying emotions as well.

The next morning we were up early heading out to the golf course. I hung back with Jasper for awhile while dad interrogated Emmett a little more. I reveled in the focus being on him for now but I knew my turn was coming up.

My dad wasn't one to interfere but I knew that Mom had a list of things to ask since she was out shopping with the girls and wouldn't have much of an opportunity this trip. Once it was made known that I was up to bat so to speak I knew I was right about mom's intentions. I could have sworn I saw dad pull out a piece of paper and look at it briefly before stuffing it back in his pocket.

"So Edward, Bella's a lovely young woman."

"She is."

"So, how long have you been dating?"

"A while."

"And you're serious about her?"

"I am."

"Do you have any future plans?"

"As in?"

"As in, your living arrangements?"

"Maybe."

"Come on Edward, you've got to give me more than that. You know how your mother is when she doesn't get her way, I can't come back empty handed and I'll be sleeping on the couch if I don't have more details to report." I hesitated a moment too long so he pulled out the big guns.

"Need I remind you of your sophomore year in high school? The night I walked in on you and Heidi? Not to mention you two were on your mother's favorite afghan that was hand made by her great-grandmother."

"Okay, okay."

"I'm just saying that that information might just accidently slip out some time."

"You play dirty."

"Yeah, well last time I was on the couch I threw my back out."

"Alright, yes I'm very serious about Bella and I'm hoping that we take things to the next level but she's under a lot of stress right now and I'm not sure that now is the time to bring it up."

"Is she okay?"

"With everything that's happened…she's okay but…she needs some time to, get things sorted out I guess. She's having a hard time of it and I'm just going to focus on getting her through that first."

"That's good, she's lucky to have you."

"I feel like the lucky one dad, she's amazing and I think I love her."

"I thought so."

"Am I that obvious?"

"Pretty much."

"Oh." Emmett and Jasper joined us at the moment when we got to the next whole.

"Dad's good." I said to my brother.

"How'd he get you?"

"The night with Heidi on grandma's afghan." I said and he cringed.

"New Years 1999." Was his response, no other explanations needed.

"You know I still don't know the entire story."

"Me neither." He said shuddering. We all met for dinner that night and Bella, Rose, and Jasper left together leaving the five of us to spend some time together

I called Bella later that night to ask her about breakfast the next morning and to let her know I was on my way home. When I got there I found her asleep on the couch.

"Come on sweetheart, let's get you to bed." I whispered.

When I climbed in I pulled her close to me. She looked so beautiful I couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Goodnight Bella, I love you." I said to knowing she wouldn't hear me.

BPOV

"Please baby, wake up!" I opened my eyes to find I was sitting in Edwards lap while he held me. I started crying again. I was really getting tired of this. I felt like I had no control over my emotions anymore. I just wish I could go back to normal. Or at least normal for me.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I shook my head. I heard Edward sigh and I immediately felt bad. I didn't want to push him away but I just needed a minute even though he was being unbelievably patient with me. He laid us back down as it was only four in the morning. I rested my head on his chest and he held me close.

"I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong." He whispered.

"There's nothing you can do Edward, they're just nightmares."

"You're shutting me out."

"I'm sorry."

"Please don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't do this, don't push me away. I need you."

"I'm sorry." I said again and he didn't reply. After several minutes of silence I spoke again.

"I'm scared."

"I'm scared too."

"Wh-what are you scared of?" I asked.

"Losing you."

"You're not going to lose me. I'm sorry, but..."

"But what?"

"I'm scared that if I tell you….."

"You can tell me anything."

"I don't want to upset you."

"I don't think that I can be anymore upset then I already am."

"Okay." He pulled me up to a sitting position and reached out to stroke my face.

I told him about the time I spent in his bathroom alone as well as the nightmares or nightmare since it was the same every night. I gave him the general idea that he was in my dream and then turned into _him._

I decided not to get into the details. Not because I was hiding them from him but because it was still dark out and I was so exhausted and I didn't want to focus on that part right now. I told him as much and he said he understood even though his body was extremely tense and I could tell he was trying hard to control his emotions.

"I'm sorry, would….would it be better if I slept in the other room." I knew he was going to think the worst. That I was uncomfortable around him when it isn't him at all.

"See, this is why I didn't want you to know. I don't want you to think that this has anything to do with you." I knew he'd be upset and this was without knowing every detail. I was afraid he'd never want to have sex again if he knew that was part of the nightmare.

"It has everything to do with me." I could see his insecurities coming through.

"Frank and Caroline both said this whole thing is behind us. Maybe the nightmares are just a way that my subconscious is handling everything. Please don't let this come between us." I felt a little hypocritical saying that after keeping him in the dark for so long. He pulled me close again and kissed the crook of my neck as he held me tight.

"Nothing will come between us if we make sure we talk to each other. Okay?"

"Okay."

Edward drifted back to sleep not too much later. That was the last thing I wanted to do so I spent my time staring into the dark thinking about how lucky I am to have such a wonderful man. I thought back to bedtime last night and how I'm fairly certain that when he said 'I love you' that it wasn't just my imagination.

I loved him too and I would make sure to tell him that soon. My eyelids were getting so heavy now as the sun was just starting to peek above the horizon. I needed to do something to keep myself awake. Edward was stirring I had a sudden need to feel closer to him. I woke him up with kisses over his chest and neck. He smiled at me when he opened his eyes.

OoOoOoOoOoOoo

"Oh Bella, Mrs. Newton will be here at noon." Rosalie said right before Emmett showed up.

"I'll be ready." Best friends do this sort of thing. Help each other with important things, but I think a small unspoken request that I go to see if there is anything wrong with the house was included in the plan as well. I couldn't blame her but I don't think she would have left it unsaid before, you know, everything else. She would have joked about it and asked me to make sure that no previous owners were still there. I would have made some lame remark about ghost busting knowing her child hood home was 'haunted'.

This told me that she was still treading lightly around me and I hated it. I wanted things to go back to the way there were before, when I wasn't afraid. Everyone was treating me the same. Edward, Emmett, Jake and Leah so I knew that the problem here was me and not them. I was digging through me closet looking for my purple shirt when I heard someone come into my room. I turned to see Rose sitting on my bed. I decided this was an opportunity to try and fix things and I brought up the newly taboo subject.

"Ready for some ghost busting?" There was my lame remark. She smiled and shook her head.

"Come on, we both know that I'll be checking it out for that sort of thing. It's okay to talk about it." I moved to sit with her.

"I'm sorry I'm just worried about you."

"It's okay, but things are getting better. I'm feeling better."

"What about the nightmares?"

"I still have them but I've gotten to the point now where I recognize it as a dream. I get the déjà vu feeling and I become aware that I'm dreaming while I'm dreaming. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, I've done that on occasion. You're aware that your dreaming it's weird but kind of cool too."

"And now that I know what's going to happen next and I'm able to change by actions and wake myself up."

"I have noticed your not screaming as much."

"I'm fine, I promise."

"Mrs. Newton's here." Emmett called from the hallway. I wished Edward was here too but he was working. She showed us several places. One was on the same block as Edward's old house. I didn't want to but I found myself looking as we drove by. There was a family sitting out in the yard. It looked like the dad was trying to put a swing set together as the mom and daughter played. That was it, no other feelings or images. I sighed in relief.

Needless to say Rosalie didn't pick that house. She decided on one that was two blocks away from mine. Emmett loved that one as much as Rose did but for different reasons. She loved the balcony off the master bedroom overlooking a beautiful flower bed and small fountain and Emmett loved the built in barbeque grill in the back yard.

A few weeks later we got Rose moved into her new home. We just got back from the housewarming party and Edward and I climbed into bed. It wasn't the first time that we were alone in the house but it was the first official night that the only people living here were the two of us. Even if that was still unofficial.

Edward and I had just finished making love and we started lovingly into each others eyes.

"I love you." He said and I smiled automatically.

"I love you too." He absentmindedly was rubbing his thumb over my fingers. When he reached my ring finger he stopped and ran it up and down the lone finger and smiled at me.

"We'll" I interrupted him. I had to; it was like my nightmare was playing itself out. His next words were "We'll be together forever." That was how it was in my dream.

"I need something to drink." I needed a minute to calm down. I hopped out of bed and went into the kitchen.

"Was it too soon?" I heard Edward's voice from behind me.

"Was what to soon?" I turned to face him he looked sad.

"That I told you that I love you?"

"What? No, Edward it was not too soon. In fact I've wanted to say it for a while now. I love you, please don't doubt that." He smiled and pulled me to him.

"Then what's wrong?"

"I'm just a little over emotional lately and I needed a minute. I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry for." He kissed the top of my head.

"So um what were you about to say? Before I interrupted you?"

"Oh um…..I was just going to say that we'll need to figure out something to do with Rosalie's old room now that she has her own house." I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding and he rubbed the back of his neck and blushed a little. I quirked an eyebrow at him and he continued.

"It was my lame attempt to bring up the subject of our living arrangements." Ohhhh. I led him back to bed feeling awkward standing naked in the kitchen.

"So, our living arrangements?"

"Yeah, uh, I know we haven't really talked about it in a while but."

"But?"

"Um, I love you Bella."

"I love you Edward."

"I don't want to be away from you anymore than I have to." I knew what he was asking and he was so nervous I decided to help him out.

"Are you saying that you'd like for us to live together? Officially?"

"Yes, if um….well, what do you think?"

"I would love that Edward." His smile was triumphant. I slept so well that night. It was really perfect. It was like that all week, things seemed to be getting back to normal.

Alice and Jasper announced their engagement. She asked both Rose and I to be in her wedding. We started making plans and Esme was coming down this weekend to help out. I was really looking forward to her visit. I was hoping Carlisle would come too but he couldn't get the time off of work.

Esme was going to drive straight over here since everyone but me was at work. I had started some research for a new book but I could do that whenever I wanted and so we were going to go out for lunch once she arrived. I had a couple of hours before she was suppose to be here and I was pretty tired so I got comfortable in the recliner in front of the TV while I waited for her. I had no intention on falling asleep; I only wanted to rest my eyes for a minute.

"_Edward had just finished making love to me and we stared lovingly into each others eyes. _

"_I love you." He said and I smiled automatically. _

"_I love you too."_

"_We'll be together forever." He said holding my hand and running his thumb over the ring finger of my left hand._

"_Come on, let's go."_

"_Where are we going?"_

"_You'll see" I looked out the window at the imagines going by while Edward drove. I was very surprised when we ended up at his old home. I could see the new family through the large window. The couple was holding each other while a small child ran over to them reaching up indicating they wanted to be held too. They were all smiling._

"_What are we doing here?"_

"_I just want us to be as happy as they are." He nodded in the direction of the house._

"_You know them?" He ignored my question and got out of the car._

"_Come." He said reaching for my hand. He lead me around the back of the house and to the gate. Huh, when did they put this in? He led me down the familiar trail near where I had found Jr. a few months ago._

_I was starting to feel uneasy, why would he bring me here? I was just about to ask when he suddenly stopped. He took both my hands in one of his and got down on one knee. _

"_Isabella I love you, we're going to be together forever. Will you marry me?"_

"_Oh Edward." The same hatred I had seen in his eyes before had reappeared._

"_I told you never to call me that." I heard a loud scream, a panicked one and I looked around to find the source of it but couldn't see anything as I was suddenly down in a five by five foot hole._

The sounds of pounding on the door along with someone yelling my name woke me up. I was disoriented at first but I quickly realized Esme was the one yelling for me. Shit. I got up quickly to open the door.

"Bella! Are you okay? What happened what's wrong?" I could see the panic in her eyes.

"It's nothing really, just a nightmare."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_ A/N _*winks to gemma loves edward*


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

"A nightmare? That must have been one hell of a nightmare, I thought you were being murdered or something, you scared me to death!" Esme had one hand on her heart while her eyes darted around the room. I wasn't sure what she expected to find but I could see the unmistakable worry on her face.

"Yeah, I have nightmares sometimes." I mumbled not really sure what to say. She looked at me for a moment longer before taking the few steps between us and gave me a hug. I hoped she couldn't feel my heart racing.

"If you want to talk about it, I'm a good listener." She said and I was grateful for the offer as much as I was grateful she wasn't pushing the subject.

"Thanks Esme, but it isn't anything new. So how was the drive?"

"Not too bad… I guess it's something that I'm going to have to get used to since all of my kids are living here now."

"Oh, yeah….. That must be kind of hard."

"It is, but clearly it was the right decision for all of them." She smiled to herself seemingly deep in thought.

"Oh! I found quite a few bridal magazines that I brought with me." She stood up and started for the door obviously having left them in the car. She wasn't kidding as she handed me a stack slightly smaller than the one she was carrying.

Esme kicked the car door closed with her foot as we both had our arms full. A couple of the magazines started to fall forward off the top of her stack and I automatically reached to help her but started losing the grip on the ones I was carrying. I managed to save hers but dropped a few of my own. I was about to pick up them up when a hand shot out and grabbed them before I had the chance.

"Let me help you." An older man said as he started to place them on top of the others I had. He looked to be about 75, dressed in beige slacks a plaid dress shirt and an old ratty cardigan sweater, while holding a cane in one hand.

"Thank you." He was looking at me kind of strange. I checked him out the best I could in the time I had. No evil smirks, no eyes changing, nothing out of the ordinary other than he looked confused by me but maybe that was just him. It was probably nothing more than my over-active paranoid mind at work again.

"You're welcome Miss Swan." How did he….

"I'm sorry, but do I know you?" I asked as he continued his retreat to the corner limping slightly.

"Good day." Was his quiet response. I stood there frozen in place as he turned the corner and started to disappear. I looked over at Esme whose eyebrows were furrowed with lips in a tight line before she looked back to me. She smiled slightly and led the way back inside quickly. I set my magazines down on the table as I saw that she was looking out the window facing the direction the man was walking.

"He went into the backyard of that green house on the corner." She turned back to me and joined me on the couch.

"I guess he's a neighbor, maybe I should make more of an effort to get to know the people around here." I chuckeled.

"Must be, I saw him earlier at the gas station down the street." She said absentmindedly, eyebrows still furrowed.

"Oh?" I inquired as I pictured the one she was talking about. It was at least 15 blocks away off the main road heading towards downtown.

"Yeah, he was walking by and eyed me as I was getting gas."

"That seems like a ways away for someone who seemed to have difficulty walking." I said more to myself than Esme.

"Yeah, it does." She answered briefly turning back towards the window.

"You're not excited about the wedding or anything are you?" Looking back at the now covered coffee table, I joked as I indicated to the plethora of magazines.

"I only get one shot at this so I'm going all out."

"You still have Edward and Emmett." I blushed not really having a reason to other than some mildly in-appropriate thoughts about Edward in a tuxedo.

"Yes, I do but being the mother of the bride holds a few more privileges that being the mother of the groom. I'm sure your mom will be just as bad as I am when it's your turn." I didn't bother to correct her; I highly doubt Renee would even show up let alone help me plan it. We opted to have lunch here instead of going out. I brought out the soup and sandwiches along with a drink for each of us. Esme smirked a little.

"I like your taste in dishes Bella." She winked. I'm sure she recognized them as Edwards. I wonder if this is her way of letting me know that she knows that Edward and I are officially living together as opposed to him just staying here temporarily. I meant to ask Edward if he told his parents or not but it slipped my mind. She looked around the room as if for the first time noticing that some of the things were in fact Edwards. We have been integrating our things together little by little.

"Uh, thanks?" I said not really sure how to respond to something that was clearly meant to let me know that she knew something was up and not at all about dishes she may or may not have purchased for her son. Come to think of it they are a little feminine.

"I'm not trying to be nosy or anything but is there anything you'd like to tell me?" Her excitement was more than obvious. I didn't mind the being nosy part, not even sure if it could be considered nosy for a parent to want to know about the rather large decisions in their children's lives especially knowing how close her family is. And to be honest I was just so happy to be accepted and not judged it didn't bother me at all.

"Yeah, actually now that you mention it." I said probably a little too slowly as she cut me off in her quest for answers.

"You and Edward are living together…..officially?"

"Are you upset?" Not truly thinking she was because she was clearly excited but then again maybe she temporarily forgot about my abilities and she'll change her mind when it all comes back to her.

"Bella honey I can see that my son loves you and I can see that you love him. So no, I'm not upset, far from it."

"Thank you Esme." Feeling a bit emotional not being used to a maternal presence I hugged her. She smiled and patted my knee before we started looking at the magazines while we ate.

"What do you think of this one?" She asked.

"It's beautiful; do you think we could talk Alice into a strapless dress though?" Alice made her preferences clear as far as the type of dress she wanted.

"Not for her, dear." She winked again. "Personally I would wear this one if I had another chance to." She continued and pointed to one on the next page.

"Geez, mom how many did you get?" Alice asked once she arrived. Rose walked in about 15 minutes later. We spent several hours going through everything and ended up tearing out multiple pages and making a pile for each of us of our dream wedding dresses. Alice had the biggest selection by far and I could tell that when the day came to try some of these on it was going to be a long one.

Edward had called and said he was stuck at work later than he thought and then planned on heading over to his future brother in laws house for awhile afterwards. Personally I think he just didn't want to get stuck in a room full of woman in wedding planning mode. Hearing the doorbell ring unexpectedly I got up and answered the door.

"Hey Leah, come on in." She had a baby carrier with a sleeping Isabella in one hand and a rather thick book in the other.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but I just wanted to drop this off." She said setting the book down. I remembered then she had an extra wedding planner that had been given to her before she married Jake. She planned on giving it to Alice once I told her about the engagement.

I introduced her to Esme as Isabella woke up. Esme's attention quickly changed from the wedding planning to the baby she was now holding. She was smiling so much I could see the wheels turning in her head. Surely imagining her own grandchild especially now that Alice was going to be married soon. We all talked for a while and soon enough we were all ready for dinner.

"How about we all meet back here in an hour or so?" Alice asked wanting to go home and change and get Esme settled in. Everyone left except for Leah; I could tell she had something on her mind.

"How are you really doing?" She asked.

"I'm fine." I felt like a broken record but then I remembered who I was talking to and how she was able to read other people better than most.

"Okay, so maybe not completely fine." She waited patiently.

"I'm still having nightmares but there's something different about them. It's unnerving because I don't really understand them. It's hard to explain but they are partially precognitive but not in the way I'm used to."

"Like what exactly?"

"The dreams with Edward in them." I started but paused when I watched Leah grimace.

"It had been the same one over and over again. It starts off with Edward and I making love, him telling me he loves me and I say it back to him he rubs my ring finger."

"And?"

"And the night we came home from Rosalie's housewarming party we climbed into bed and that exact scenario played out."

"Exactly?"

"Up to that point yes."

"So what's different in the dream?"

"In the dream his next words were 'we'll be together forever' and that night when he said 'we'll' I stopped him before he could finish his sentence."

"Okay….then what happened?"

"I left the room but later when I asked him what he was going to say when I interrupted him he said he was going to say that 'we'll have to figure out what to do with Rosalie's old room."

"So it's not really precognitive then."

"But it is, the first part was verbatim."

"But the rest wasn't so could it just be a coincidence?"

"You know I don't really believe in coincidences."

"Maybe this was though Bella. Maybe you're looking too hard to make this into something that it's not. _He's_ gone, and I know you don't believe that completely but."

"But what if he's not gone and he's messing with my head?"

"I don't think so."

"I don't know, you didn't see him Leah. I have never experienced anything like that; nothing has ever even come close."

"Okay, okay. You're right, I don't know. I wasn't there but you have to trust the people that were. The Varner's were and they know what they're doing."

"I know."

"I'm not saying you shouldn't be upset or cautious but give yourself a little time. You experienced something traumatic, there is bound to be some fallout both consciously and subconsciously."

"So stop looking for trouble where there isn't any?" I asked somewhat sarcastically yet seriously.

"Is it only the nightmare or have there been other signs too?" She ignored my tone.

"So far just the dreams."

"As in more than one? I thought it was the same one."

"It was but recently it changed. The beginning's the same but there was a new ending, this time he proposed before changing into _him_."

"Well Edward proposing is something that is going to happen whether or not you had a dream about it."

"I don't…"

"Bella, for the sake of argument we both know that it will happen eventually and not because of some dream precognitive or not. You know that Edward isn't _him_ so no matter what you dream about it will never come true even if there are some real life similarities."

"You're right." When she put it like that it became embarrassingly obvious, I was just over reacting.

"I don't want you to become complacent though."

"That's a fine line."

"I know, but you need to let this go so you can move on, just keep track of anything more that's out of the ordinary."

"My whole life is out of the ordinary."

"You know what I mean."

"I know."

"Everything's going to be okay Bella, you'll see."

"I hope so."

"I have to go but please call me and let me know what's going on."

"Are you sure you and Jake cant make it to dinner?"

"I promise we will another time. By the way your future mother in law seems really great."

"Will you stop?" She just rolled her eyes.

"I'll talk to you later."

"Thanks for everything Leah."

"Anytime." She was right. I had to stop looking for trouble.

"Do we have time?" Edward was already carrying me to the bedroom. He got home a minute ago but unfortunately everyone was due back here in the next 10.

"Nope." That didn't deter him at all.

"We'll be quick." He was already pulling down his scrubs. Don't get me wrong I was more than willing but his mother will be knocking on our door before we know it.

"Edward, your mom." His groan stopped me mid sentence. And it wasn't the good kind of groaning either. He sat back on his heals.

"Bella, never mention my mother when we are doing that. It's bound to scar me for life."

"Sorry, but she's going to be here any." I didn't have to finish as the doorbell rang.

"See?"

"Yeah okay." Edward grumbled before giving me a quick kiss and getting up from the bed. As planned everyone was here and we all left for dinner together. It was late when we got back and I was tired from all the days' activities as well as not sleeping well the night before. I headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth and when I came out Edward was lying down in bed sifting through the pictures of wedding dresses that were clearly marked 'Bella' in bright red pen.

"Oh Lord." Edward heard me groan and looked up smiling.

"You would look exquisite in any of these Bella."

"You weren't supposed to see those." Why didn't I make sure to put those away before he got home?

"Sorry, is that some sort of 'You're not supposed to see the bride until the wedding' sort of rule?"

"Sort of."

"Sort of?" He smirked.

"Technically I'm not supposed to be looking for wedding dresses until after I've been proposed to." Why is it I tend to make things more awkward for myself instead of taking the easy way out?

"Well if that's all, I can fix that." He was smiling and I'm pretty sure he was joking.

"Edward."

"What?" He was clearly pleased with himself. Distracting him would be my best bet. I climbed on top of him and picked up where we left of before dinner.

I woke up to the sound of the blearing alarm. I reached over and hit snooze, I was way too comfortable where I was. 10 minutes later it went off again and I knew I only had one more snooze left before I would be late.

"Stay." Edward's quiet command was said with his eyes still closed as he wrapped his arms around me tighter.

"I wish I could."

"You can."

"Huh-uh." I started to get up.

"Noooooooo." Edward whined. "Why do you have to get up on my only day off this week?"

"Because your mother is meeting us for breakfast before we start our quest for the perfect bridesmaid dresses."

"Can't you do that tomorrow?"

"Today is the only day Cynthia will be in town." Cynthia was going to be Alice's maid of honor. She was her best friend growing up and was now living outside of Portland and had a pretty busy schedule so today was the day.

"Fine." He pouted still not having opened his eyes yet.

"Go back to sleep." I whispered and kissed him on the forehead. He was already snoring again by the time I reached the bathroom.

Cynthia was nice, extremely quiet though so we didn't talk a whole lot so I hung back with Rosalie, which was fine. It gave Alice a chance to catch up with her friend. My feet were aching but we did it, five stores and 500 dresses later we found the perfect one. At least they weren't peach taffeta. They were actually beautiful and something that I'd be able to wear again.

Finally we sat down to a late lunch. Eating at the hole in the wall café, it was actually named that, near home I slipped off my shoes to rub my feet. I knew I shouldn't have worn dress shoes but I thought it would make it easier when trying the many many dresses on we did. We had placed our orders at the counter and were just waiting for our number to be called. I glance out the window I noticed someone walking by. I didn't see their face but from the clothes and posture it looked like it could be my neighbor from the day before.

"What are you looking at?" Rose asked me.

"Oh, nothing. I just thought I saw someone I knew."

"Who was it?" She asked leaning towards the window trying to get a better look.

"I think he's my neighbor." Was he always around before but I never noticed him until yesterday, is he following me, or is it me just being paranoid yet again. Maybe it wasn't even him...

"Mr. Benson?"

"No, the man that lives in the green house on the corner."

"I didn't realize you knew them."

"I don't, not really but he was walking by the house yesterday and stopped to help me when I dropped something."

"Oh." My number was called so I got up to get my lunch effectively putting an end to the conversation.

EPOV

I couldn't believe it. My little sister is getting married. Mom was coming down for the weekend but dad couldn't make it. It was just as well. I was working long hours today and only had Saturday off and had to work again Sunday.

I knew all the girls were meeting at our house so I called Jasper and Emmett to see what they were up to.

"Hey man." Jasper opened the door.

"Hey." I walked in and closed the door behind me while he grabbed me a drink.

"Thanks for letting me hang out here."

"You didn't want to get stuck looking at fashion magazines huh?" He joked.

"I just didn't want to get put into the impossible situation of being asked which one I liked the best. I guess wrong every time."

"How can you're opinion be wrong?" I heard Emmett ask as he walked around the corner leading from the bathroom.

"Did you not grow up with Alice? She was constantly asking me which outfit looked better or which shoes she should wear. She was already leaning towards one and it never failed that that was the one I didn't pick."

"Remember when mom asked us to take her to the mall to exchange something, it was only suppose to take a few minutes but somehow we ended up sitting outside the dressing room for hours while she tried on each outfit multiple times just to make sure everything matched?" Emmett asked.

"You're in for a long six months Jazz."

"Actually all I'm on the line for is the cake sampling." He smirked leaning back into his chair.

"How the hell did you pull that off?"

"It was all Alice's idea. Apparently I made a very poor choice about the font I wanted for the wedding invitations, she realized quickly that it would be better for her to handle the rest."

"Lucky bastard."

"More than you know." I had a feeling he was talking about more than just not having to plan the wedding.

"I wonder if that would work on Bella?" I mused to myself.

"What was that?" Jasper asked.

"Oh um nothing."

"No, I distinctly heard Bella's name." My brother would not let it slide by.

"I just, you know, wonder if I'll have the same luck with Bella."

"I didn't realize you were planning a wedding."

"Not right now of course."

"But sometime?"

"I hope so."

"So you're planning on proposing?"

"I haven't gotten a specific plan yet but I know she's the on for me so it's really all about timing."

"And what kind of time frame are you working with here Edward?" Both of them were now leaning forward with their elbows on their knees.

"It won't be until after Alice is married at the earliest. I wouldn't want to steal any of her limelight." Jasper smiled at that.

"So were looking at six months then?"

"Shit, I don't know for sure. I mean I know what I want but I'm going to be taking my cues from Bella. I want to make sure she's ready."

"Congratulations man."

"Thanks."

"Let me give you a piece of advice." Jasper said.

"I'll take whatever I can get."

"She loved the ring I got for Alice, in fact she said and I quote "It's exactly like something I would want."

"Really?"

"Really. I don't think she meant to say it because she blushed pretty badly." Just then Alice called Jasper to tell him the plan of meeting back at our place before heading to dinner. I got in my car and drove home.

I'd been thinking about my future with Bella but to have said it out loud seemed to take it to another level, made it a lot more real. My checks started to hurt from the smile I had on my face but I knew I had to rein it in. I really don't think Bella is anywhere near being ready for this and I was not about to rush her.

I pretty much attacked her when I got home not being able to stop myself but we didn't get very far before everyone arrived. Dinner was nice but I wanted to get home. I knew Bella was tired by the way her eyes were starting to droop so I wasn't surprised she was ready for bed.

As she went into the bathroom I noticed some papers sitting out on the coffee table. There were pictures of wedding dresses and I wouldn't have thought anything of it, thinking that Alice left them until I saw Bella's name written across the top. My smile was back, I could all too easily see her wearing any one of these. Rein it in Cullen...Yeah good luck with that.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

BPOV

I've been so tired lately. It seems like no matter how much sleep I get I'm still exhausted when I wake up. Nightmares are still problematic but lessening. Edward has been watching me closely, too closely. He's asked me for the hundredth time if I was alright.

"Just tired."

"Maybe you should call your doctor and make an appointment." This wasn't the first time he suggested that either.

"Because I'm tired? Edward you worry too much. I'm fine, I promise."

"I can't help it. I just want to make sure you're really okay."

"I promise if I start to feel sick I'll go in otherwise I'm just going to wait until next month when I have to go in for my annual check up okay?" He tried to talk me into letting him examine me but I knew that wouldn't be a good idea. I'd never get out of there with the amount of tests he wanted to run. He'd blow everything out of proportion and so I told him I had my own doctor I'd been going to for years. He relented finally.

"I wish you'd let." I stopped him from finishing his sentence with a kiss and walked into the bathroom to start the shower. Edward joined me making both of us late for work.

I started my lectures for the next semester only working two days a week leaving me time for other things. It was a Thursday evening and I had stayed after class for a while today just catching up on some paperwork. My phone ringing startled me.

"Hello?"

"Bella? Where are you?"

"I'm still at school, why?"

"You're 20 minutes late. We were supposed to be meeting Alice remember?" Shit, I hadn't remembered. Did I mention that I'd been slightly forgetful lately too?

"I'm sorry, I'm on my way." I felt horrible but luckily I wasn't the only one. Jasper was also late. Edward and Emmett actually weren't required to be here but they weren't about to miss out on free cake samples. We were brought back to the tasting room. They must have had a hundred different kinds. Alice insisted on a cake way to big for the amount of people but it was her dream cake and no one was going to talk her out of it.

It was one of those fancy affairs with different levels and little stairs leading down to smaller different flavored cakes, so needless to say we'd be there for a while.

"Slow down there Bell, we have to decide which kind of chocolate before we move on to the other flavors." Rosalie said. I think she saw me sneak a piece and had a strange look on her face. I'd been eyeing that carrot cake since we got here, and I was so hungry even after I'd sampled nearly 20 different kinds of chocolate.

Luckily the samples were small. I was already going to have to go for a long run tonight if I had any hope of still fitting into that bridesmaid dress after eating the five million calories I'd already consumed in the last hour. I think it must have been the sugar high but I was wide awake once we got home. I decided that a run really was a good idea.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Edward asked even though he was lying on the couch with his eyes closed rubbing his stomach.

"And risk you puking up all the cake you just ate? No thanks." I think he may puke anyway. He and Emmett had gotten into some sort of bet to see who could eat the most the fastest or something equally as stupid pertaining to the leftovers.

"Don't mention food." He mumbled and turned over. I changed my clothes and found my running shoes. I left the house and it was still fairly light out but the sun was starting to set. I didn't really have a set number of miles or anything I just started to run.

I forgot how much of a stress reliever running is. I'd let my mind wander not really paying attention to where I was going. I finally had come to a busy intersection and had to stop for the light. It was only then did I realize where I was.

How the hell did I end up here? I couldn't see it from where I was standing. The house was still another 5 blocks away. Strange thing was, I had an urge to go by it. Maybe I needed some sort of closure, maybe I needed to see that everything was still okay. That it was just another house and that the people living there were safe and nothing out of the ordinary was going on. The light had changed and I found myself crossing the street and continuing on my path.

I hoped I wasn't making a mistake, and that doing this alone, seeing Edward's old house again might set me back. But the closer I got the more sure I was that I needed to do this. Maybe just to prove to myself that Caroline and Frank were right.

I stood on the corner, the far corner and just stood and stared for a few minutes before walking closer. The curtains were open and the lights were on. I could see the mom in the kitchen. She looked to be pregnant and she was setting the table. I recognized them as the same people that had bought it from Edward. They had been in the yard that day we drove by with Mrs. Newton when we were looking at houses for Rose.

I was still on the opposite side of the street and was relieved to feel okay. There was nothing left other than some bad memories. I was smiling as I ran home. I felt good, really good. Everything was going to be okay. I turned onto my street. My porch light was on and it looked as if the door might have been open. At least I know Edward had gotten up.

I was lost in my own thoughts not seeing my neighbor, the mystery man from before, turning the corner right into me. Luckily I didn't knock into him but I did almost manage to take myself down.

"I'm so sorry." I hadn't seemed to have startled him; he must have seen me coming.

"Be careful Isabella." His voice was low and gravelly and I wonder if he had been sick.

"I'm really sorry; I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." I explained even though it was pretty obvious. He shook his head at me, though not at all in a condescending manner.

"Be _careful_ Isabella." He repeated looking directly into my eyes as if to convey something I wasn't understanding. Suddenly my good mood had been cut short.

"Bella?" I turned to the sound of Edwards voice. He had changed into his pajama pants and a t-shirt. He was walking down the driveway to the sidewalk. When I glanced back to my neighbor he was already walking away. I sighed not being able to ask him what he meant and went to meet Edward.

"I was getting worried." He hugged me.

"How long was I gone?" I wasn't wearing a watch but I did notice that the sun was in fact down.

"An hour or so."

"I thought you'd still be on the couch when I got back." I said not really addressing his concern.

"I'm feeling a little better." Getting back inside I took a shower and when I got out Edward was sitting at the computer looking pretty involved with whatever he was doing. I made my way to the kitchen getting out some cheese and cutting it up to put on some crackers.

"Whatcha doing?" I heard him ask as he came up behind me.

"The run made me a little hungry." I told him holding out a piece of cheese. I giggled when he shriveled up his nose. We went to bed and I felt more relaxed than I had in a really long time. Even though Alice's wedding was fast approaching we had nothing scheduled for today. I had a few errands to take care of but nothing of consequence other than meeting Edward for lunch.

I went to the bank, grocery shopping, picked up my bridesmaid shoes all before going to the hospital. I was in the waiting room, waiting for Edward. He was running a bit behind but that was pretty normal.

"You ready?" He had startled me. It was hard not to notice the smile on his face. He looked extremely excited about something.

"I am, I take it your morning went well?" I asked as we walked across the street to the café. I ordered our lunch while Edward ran to the bathroom.

"So?" I asked after we had sat down. He hadn't elaborated yet.

"Well remember how I told you the Dr. Greene wanted to talk with me today?"

"You're meeting this morning." I acknowledged.

"It turns out that that the private practice she started has gotten pretty big. In fact she's a little overwhelmed by it all." He was still smiling.

"Oh?"

"She asked me if I'd consider joining her."

"Her practice?"

"Yeah, what do you think?"

"I think it's great if that's what you want. I'm just a little surprised; I thought you said you didn't want to leave the hospital." I wanted to make sure; he seemed against this idea not too long ago.

"I wasn't sure at first but after thinking about all the benefits it would have I'm really starting to think it's the way to go. I mean I'd have a set schedule and I wouldn't have to worry about being called in in the middle of the night, or be called in to cover someone else's shift. I really think this would be a good move for us."

"Us?" I asked but was interrupted by the waitress delivering our food. After asking us if we needed anything else she left.

"You don't like roast beef." Edward stated eyeing me peculiarly.

"Not usually, but it just sounded really good today." I said taking a bite.

"You said us? It would be a good move for us?" I redirected him since he seemed deep in thought.

"I just meant that….it would be nice for me to be able to be home at night."

"I don't understand, you are home at night."

"I mean every night, all night. I've been getting called in so much lately and I…. I worry about you, especially with …the nightmares. I just don't want you to be home alone."

"Edward please tell me you aren't doing this because of me."

"I'm not."

"It sounds like you are. I've been doing fine all of my life and I don't need a babysitter." Is that what he thinks? I know things have been hard lately but I've been getting better, I have. I thought that he noticed.

"I don't think you need a babysitter, I just." He paused.

"That's exactly what you think." I stood up and walked out the door. I was hurt and embarrassed.

"Bella wait." I heard Edward calling but I kept going. Was I really so bad that he felt the need to change jobs so he could take care of me? Why would he do that? He told me himself that he didn't like the idea when Dr. Greene left in the first place so I couldn't imagine any other reason for his sudden change.

I knew Edward wouldn't follow me. He had a busy day and was going to be working late. I ignored the phone when it rang, not feeling like talking to him right now. I realize that I was acting like a child by ignoring him but I wasn't ready to talk to him yet. I decided another run was in order. It calmed me down a little and gave me a chance to think things through a little more clearly. When I got back I was met by Leah and Isabella. Not that I wasn't happy to see them but it pissed me off all over again.

"He called you?"

"He's worried."

"Yeah, that much I got." I sounded like a bitch even to myself.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you, how long have you been waiting?"

"Not long." Leah followed me into the house.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked while she set up a few things for Isabella to play with.

"No." She looked up at me in surprise and snorted a little.

"All right, I'll go first then." After a while of talking about how things are going at home and how Jake always seems to disappear around diaper changing time she told me that he wants to move back to Forks.

"Forks?"

"Yep, he thinks it a great place to raise a kid."

"Oh well, sure but Forks?"

"That's what I said."

"Is he serious?"

"I don't know. We were watching the news one night and suddenly he declared that there is too much crime in big cities and we should just move to a small town and how there isn't any crime where he grew up, something about a kick-ass chief of police." I couldn't help smiling at that.

"What about the garage?"

"I don't think he really thought it all the way through. He just wants what he thinks is best for Isabella but I think he's going a little over-board."

"I'll say."

"Kind of reminds me of Edward." It was me that snorted this time.

"Exactly, he's treating me like a child."

"He loves you."

"And he'll end up resenting me if he takes a job he doesn't really want all in a mis-guided attempt to…..what? I don't even know what he thinks he'll accomplish by doing it." Suddenly I started crying. Not sobbing but I couldn't seem to stop the tears that where pouring from my eyes.

"I'm sorry; my emotions have been all over the place lately."

"It's okay, you're allowed."

"But this is just ridiculous. I can't even control it. No wonder Edward thinks he needs to watch me all the time, I'm a mess." That thought only made me cry harder. Suddenly I felt guilty for walking out on him like that when he's only trying to help.

"I'm surprised he's even still with me, I can't figure out why he puts up with this."

"Because he loves you, and he's not going anywhere."

"We'll see." Leah shook her head disapprovingly and held out the phone for me. I wiped my eyes and dialed Edward's number.

"Bella." He sounded so relieved.

"I'm sorry Edward."

"No, honey, I'm sorry."

"I over-reacted and I shouldn't have walked out."

"I should have explained things a little better. I swear the reason I'm considering this has nothing to do with you. I mean it does, but not in the way you're thinking."

"It's okay, I don't know what's wrong with me lately."

"There's nothing wrong with you sweetheart. You've been under a lot of stress." I could hear someone being paged in the background.

"I know you're busy so I'll let you get back to work but we'll talk later okay?"

"Okay, I love you."

"I love you too." I hung up and turned to see Leah smiling at me. We talked for a while longer before it was time for them to leave. I carried Isabella out while Leah got everything put in the car.

"Thank you for everything. And I'll make sure I talk to Jake."

"You're welcome, and please do; I really don't want to move." I watched as she drove down the street before turning back towards my house.

"Protect the child." I turned to see mystery neighbor walking away from me.

"Protect the….what are you talking about?" He didn't answer me, he didn't even turn around he just kept going. I wasn't really sure what to do at this point but I did know that I had enough of his crypt messages.

"Hey, wait a minute. Who are you?" I had caught up to him but we were practically in front of his house.

"Do as I say." And he walked inside. I stood there for a second before I started knocking on the door. He never answered so I had no choice but to go back home.

What child? What was he talking about? Isabella? I had just been holding her, he must have seen that. I thought about that and started feeling a little sick. Thinking back to my other run in's with him I did remember he told me to be careful right after my run by Edward's old house.

Could he be talking about one of those children? Or maybe he was just some crazy old man. Either way I was going to find out tomorrow. I made some dinner and turned on the TV trying to distract myself while I waited for Edward to get home.

My eyes flew open and it was completely dark other than the red numbers on the clock that read 3:13am. Obviously Edward had carried me to bed. I was disappointed that he hadn't woken me up but not really surprised.

I laid there not wanting to go back to sleep. Not wanting to think about the dream that I had just had. I slid out of bed and made my way over to the window. I looked out in the direction of the green house on the corner.

I couldn't see anything other than the light of a TV through the window. I sat and stared at the house silently cursing the old man. The dream that I had just woken from was surely in direct result from our early interaction.

This one was by far the scariest even though nothing had really happened. It was me carrying a small child. Ones whose face I didn't see. I was trying to get away except we weren't being chased, just watched. There was no where for us to go, no where we could escape to but I knew, I just knew that I would stop at nothing to protect this child.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

"Hey" I heard a soft whisper and felt a hand caress my shoulder.

"Hey." I replied as I turned to face Edward.

"What were you looking at?" I glanced back to the house. I couldn't see the flickering light of the TV any longer.

"Nothing in particular."

"You okay?"

"I'm fine." He grimaced slightly.

"How long have you been up?"

"Not long." I lied. The sun was peaking over the horizon.

"Come on, I'll make some breakfast." I followed him to the kitchen as he put some bread in the toaster and took a couple bowls out for cereal. Hoping he wasn't going to ask me how I slept I kept my eyes firmly planted on the sugar bowl that was on the table.

"When I was a kid I wanted to be just like my dad." Edward said. I looked up at him but he was looking towards the window as he continued.

"He was my hero. He worked in one of those really big office building's downtown. And every year at Christmas time we would all get dressed up and go see him at work. Mom would bring in cookies for his secretary and he would show us off to anyone who would listen.

He had a corner office that looked out over the city and a really big desk that had a picture of our family on it. He had all of these people that worked for him. He always called them by their first names and they all called him sir. I had no idea what it was that he did but I knew it was important. I secretly thought he ran the world.

The first thing he did when he got home was kiss mom, eat dinner and then play with us until we had to go to bed. And weekends were spent together, the whole family. Everything was perfect in my eyes until one day it wasn't anymore. As I got a little older things had started to change. I had no idea why, but what I did know is that dad was always tired when he got home from work and instead of playing with us he would sit and watch TV.

That is if he even made it home. Most nights we were in bed long before he even got there, I used to try and stay awake at least until I heard the front door close. The weekends weren't nearly as fun either. Instead of taking us to the park or playing with us in the backyard he had work to do. He'd lock himself in his den and we were not to disturb him for any reason.

Mom and dad started fighting. She wanted him to spend time with us, and he thought that he was providing for the family the best he could and thought she should appreciate him more. It wasn't long before we heard his company was merging with another one from Chicago. They asked dad to be the CEO which meant moving across the county. I didn't want to of course, I liked Spokane and my friends were there.

Mom didn't want to go either, she said he'd have even less time for us, and what was the point in making all of that money if he was never going to be around. I know she missed him like the rest of us and it made me mad that he upset her.

I started acting out more and more as did Emmett. Things were different and I hated it. It wasn't until one night that I over heard them after they thought we were asleep. Mom said if he really wanted to go then maybe he should. I didn't miss the emphasis on _he_ not _we_.

I watched as he grabbed a suit case and started throwing his clothes in it. It scared me, a lot. I ran into the room crying. I told him that I'd be good if he'd just stay. I didn't care if he missed my baseball games or that he wasn't home by the time I went to bed or if he had to work on weekends. I said it didn't matter if he wanted to be at work more than be home with us and that I'd do anything to make him love me again, like he used to." I watched as Edward too a deep breath.

"What happened?"

"He quit his job and found another one in town. His office wasn't as big and he wasn't running the world anymore but he coached my baseball team and Emmett's football team and went to every single one of Alice's dance classes. He became my hero again but for a different reason.

So you see, I want to take this job with Dr. Greene because I can have it all this way. I get the opportunity to work with one of the best doctors in the area, still have the career I've always wanted and most importantly have the time to…. Bella, you are my life now. I'd be lost without you so I'm taking this job not because I think you need a babysitter, I'm taking this job because this is truly what I want to do."

"Oh." I felt horrible that I even doubted his motives, I definitely didn't deserve him. "I'm sorry Edward."

"Please don't be." He said pulling me onto his lap. We sat there in silence for a minute. It's hard to imagine that Carlisle and Esme almost split up, looking at them now it just doesn't seem like it would have even been a possibility, but I guess even the most perfect couples have problems sometimes.

"You know, you probably saved your parents marriage that night."

"I would like to take credit for it but I hope that even if dad went to Chicago he would have figured it out sooner or later."

"I'm sure he would have, I've never seen a relationship quite like your parents, or your family really."

"To me family means everything, so….."

"You're an amazing man Edward Cullen."

"Not quite as amazing as you are Bella Swan." He said and I rolled my eyes. _Yeah right!_

"I love you."

"I love you too." We sat there for a while, foreheads touching, holding each other before he shifted me off his lap.

"And now I have to go to work." He sighed deeply and I was truly disappointed.

"What time does your shift end?"

"I'm working a double so it won't be until late." He said before getting up to get ready.

"Call me if you get a chance." I said as I walked him to the door.

"I will baby." After Edward left I took another bite of my toast before tossing the rest. Food just wasn't sounding good today. I did a little cleaning and decided it was now or never. I got dressed and put on my hoodie before heading out the door. I walked the short distance to Mystery neighbor's house.

I walked up the path and rang the doorbell. Of course, there was no answer. I stood up on my tippy toes to see if I could see in through the half moon shaped window near the top of the door. I wasn't tall enough and couldn't see a thing inside. I heard shuffling though. He must be home but is choosing to ignore me. I wonder if he knows it's me specifically or if he just doesn't answer his door in general.

"Mr. ummm…It's me, Isabella Swan. I really need to talk to you." I waited five more minutes before retreating back home. All right, Plan B it is. I sat in front of the window that gives me a view of his house. I could wait him out. He'd have to come out at some point right?

He's evaded me for three days. But I haven't been camped out here the whole time either. I've gone to work and when Edward's home I've had better things to do but with another free day I was going to talk to him no matter what it took.

I hope no one has spotted me. I'm sure I look like some sort of stalker. But finally, finally I see him coming around the corner and up to his front door. Just as he got it opened I came out of my hiding spot and made it up to his front porch before he can close the door behind him.

"Excuse me." I said and he looked up. His face is surprised for a moment before nodding to himself.

"Isabella."

"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage Mr.?" I noticed how pale he looked, and how he's sweating enough that he pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his forehead.

"Fuller, Marcus Fuller." He spoke slowly and his voice was raspy.

"I was hoping we could talk?" I practically pushed my way inside. Normally I wouldn't be so bold but I didn't want him getting away from me before I had the answers I wanted.

"Do come in." He opened the door wider and I followed him into his home. It was clean, save for a few dust bunnies in the corners. The room was sparsely furnished, an old rocking chair across from an old fashioned TV stand with a 19inch black and white sitting on top and a love seat off to the side.

"Please have a seat." He said before coughing violently.

"What can I do for you?"

"I'm going to get right to the point Mr. Fuller; you've been trying to tell me something for weeks now. I'd like to know what it is." He stared at me for a while but hadn't said anything and I was beginning to wonder if this was a mistake. He stared off into space for several minutes before wiping his brow again.

"It's easy to spot others." He starts.

"Others?"

"Those of us who are few and far between."

"I'm not sure I understand." Apparently cryptic is just his style.

"It seems nobody's gift is ever exactly the same is it?" He looked at me like he _knew_.

"I suppose not." I went along with it if only to keep him talking.

"I'm a very old man Isabella. I've seen a lot of things, some things I wished that I hadn't."

"What kinds of things are you talking about Mr. Fuller?"

"My talent, if you will, is very different than yours."

"You….how do you know anything about me?" He continued on as if I hadn't spoken.

"As a young boy it was very welcome, how could it not be? It was like some sort of magic almost….I would just know things, I didn't know how or why but I did. I didn't fully understand it as first, thinking perhaps it was just coincidence or perhaps just good fortune.

But it turned out to be much more than that. You see if I focused hard enough, things would just…. come to me. One night I tried it out during a friendly game of cards. It was when I started winning every hand I realized it was real and not just some chance.

Of course I practiced every chance I had. The simplest of things to some much more difficult. I was very rarely wrong. It was a very exciting thing to discover yet I never told a soul about it, for they would deem me insane. I, on the other hand, deemed myself incredibly lucky. Soon I had made myself a lot of money and very quickly which caught the attention of several of my peers especially my best friend Aro.

He didn't ask specifics of me but he didn't have to. He took it upon himself to plan some ventures for us. He wanted us to play for real money, big money. He would make the arrangements and I would play the game. He thought of it as a business deal and we could split the profits 50/50. He was not at all pleased that I turned down the offer." He stopped talking and put his head in his hands.

"Mr. Fuller, are you okay?" I had to ask. He had been silent for some long I almost thought he had fallen asleep.

"We were to be married, Didi and I. Her parents did not approve of me however. They thought that I wasn't good enough for their daughter. They were right, of course, but we were young and very much in love. I couldn't court her openly, so we would sneak off to meet." He smiled wistfully.

"When she became pregnant we decided to run away together. I had enough money so that we could leave town and start over some place far away. We kept our plans to ourselves not wanting to chancing anyone finding out. But one night after I saw her home I had a terrible feeling, it was just days before it happened, but I knew it was coming. I didn't want to believe it, it couldn't be! He was her brother for goodness sakes and my best friend.

He would never. It had to be wrong. _I_ had to be wrong, I had convinced myself. You see, this was different, it didn't come the way it had before. I hadn't been focusing on anything; it just came to me, without warning. We were supposed to be leaving in three days but I couldn't take any chances so I talked her into leaving immediately but it didn't make a bit of difference.

He had followed us to the outskirts of town. He somehow found out about our plans. She died at the hands of her brother that night. He blamed her for everything. Saying she had gotten pregnant on purpose, that it was her fault we had to leave. He said she was taking me away from him and if it weren't for her he'd be a rich man by now." His eyes were watery and I was at a loss for words but he continued on.

"I didn't welcome it any more after that. I did everything I could to push them out of my head. I never wanted to see anything like that again. It worked you know. They had stopped completely for years. Very rarely will something come through. I'd made it a very long time, that is until I saw you."

"Me?"

"It wouldn't stop…I tried, believe me I tried."

"Wh-what is it?"

"I've only gotten bits and pieces but not enough to figure out the puzzle. I'm afraid I'm very much out of practice."

"Can you tell me what you do know?"

"It's going to be a tough fight but you're a strong woman. A strong woman who is surrounded by people who love you."

"Please Mr. Fuller I need you to tell me exactly what you mean." I stood up having trouble sitting still.

"When the time comes, you need to protect the child. That is who you need to focus on, no one else. Otherwise someone could get hurt, or worse. Do you understand?"

"No, Mr. Fuller I don't understand."

"You already know who. I don't know when, and I don't know how, but I do know that the child will need you. You're the only one that can do it. Just don't let your guard down, don't rationalize anything away, and remember to ask for help, you're going to need it." My blood ran cold, my ears started ringing and I was in serious risk of throwing up.

XOXOXO

My mind felt a little fuzzy as I opened my eyes. I was very disoriented and I wasn't sure where I was. I tried to sit up but someone gently pushed me back. I looked to the side to see a man in uniform, my arm was in a blood pressure cuff and I was lying on a gurney. Good lord I was in an ambulance.

"Just relax." _Relax?_ I don't think so; I tried to sit up again.

"Please lie back ma'am; we're almost to the hospital."

"I don't need to go to the hospital, I'm fine." Well not _fine _but physically I was fine. I heard the sirens turn off and the vehicle slowed to a stop. They opened the doors and wheeled me out.

"I can walk." I tried to retain any dignity I could.

"Sorry ma'am, hospital policy." He said as they wheeled me through the doors. Someone was coming right for us. Please let it be anyone else besides Edward. I was in luck as a saw the face of the doctor approaching us. The EMT's gave him the report and I was being pushed into a room. This was mortifying.

"I'm Dr. Roberts; can you tell me what happened?" He looked up at me expectantly. Could I tell him what happened? Somewhat I suppose.

"I'm not really sure; I was visiting a friend and just got a little light headed. I didn't really eat much today and I'm a little over-tired. I'm sure it's nothing more than that."

"Well I want to run a few tests just to be sure." He smiled. After a few more questions a bright light being shined in my eyes and some blood drawn I was left alone in the room and I tried to clear my head for a minute. I'd need to call Leah right away, no I need to get out of here first. And what about Edward? I suppose there was no hiding this. Shit he was going to freak out, my mind was racing and I was startled when the nurse suddenly spoke. I didn't even see her come back in.

"It won't be much longer, is there anyone you'd like us to call?" Crap.

"Um, yeah actually can you let Dr. Cullen know that I'm here?"

"Dr. Cullen?"

"Yes, Dr. Edward Cullen, he's working in the ER tonight."

"You know Dr. Cullen personally?" She looked at me skeptically.

"Yes, I do. He's my, boy….friend." Her surprise was evident.

"I knew your name sounded familiar." She winked at me. "Dr. Cullen talks about you quite frequently….Much to the dismay of most of the female staff members however." She chuckled. Yeah, I didn't find that so funny.

"I'll let him know." She said before picking up the phone in the room and having him paged. Not more than a minute later Edward appeared. He seemed relaxed so I'm assuming he didn't know why he was needed here. He looked at me for a split second before it clicked.

"Bella." He was at my side in an instant.

"Hi."

"What are you doing here? What's going on?"

"I'll leave you two alone." The nurse said before walking out.

"It's nothing Edward really." He didn't get a chance to say anything more before Dr. Roberts came back in.

"Dr. Cullen?" Edward glanced back at him and wordlessly took the chart from his hands.

"You fainted?"

"I was just a little dizzy, I hadn't eaten much." I offered.

"Bella." He started but was interrupted.

"Dr. Cullen, what are you doing?" Dr. Roberts asked and I could detect a slightly harsh tone as he took the chart back.

"Edward I'm fine."

"If you were fine you wouldn't be in the ER."

"Dr. Cullen?"

"I'm sorry Dr. Roberts, but Bella is my girlfriend and I'm a little worried." His tone wasn't exactly pleasant either.

"I have your test results." He said to me while gaining Edward's full attention.

"Okay."

"Would you like to discuss them in private?"

"No, I want Edward here." I reached for his hand suddenly a little nervous.

"Well Miss Swan, you're pregnant."


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

"Pregnant?"

"Pregnant." I heard Edward say almost as if he should have known it all along.

"I….I can't be pregnant. I'm on." I start looking frantically for my purse -which held my birth control- as if to prove a point, but it wasn't here.

"Bella?"

"The pill, I'm on the pill!"

"The blood test confirmed it, I'll leave you two alone but if you have any questions please let me know." He hands Edward a piece of paper and says something about an obgyn before opening the door. I heard his congratulations as an afterthought but I didn't respond.

"Sweetheart?" I look up and see him smiling but his face falls once I apologize.

"I'm so sorry."

"You're... No, Bella don't…. please don't be sorry."

"But I."

"Surprised, shocked, scared. Anything, _anything_ but sorry."

"I'm not sorry." He continues and holds me close resting his forehead on mine. So much is going through my head right now. I've been completely blindsided but this is so much more than an unexpected pregnancy. I stare unseeing for who knows how long before Edward takes charge.

"Come on." He pulls on my hand and helps me stand up. I follow along side him as we walk out the door and down a long corridor to the cafeteria. He seats me at a table and quickly brings over a juice and what looks to be a turkey sandwich and places them in front of me before pulling out the seat next to mine.

"Talk to me." His eyes are so intense.

"I don't know what to say." And I don't, there's just so much.

"Tell me what you're feeling. I'm getting the impression that you're not happy about this." He's holding my hands with both of his and our knees are touching.

"I'm just so completely overwhelmed." I say quite honestly. He takes a breath and seems to have relaxed just slightly.

"Overwhelmed I can handle." He sighs and brushes the hair out of my eyes and I see the relief in his.

"And scared."

"What are you scared of honey?"

"So many things Edward." I'm going to tell him everything. I _have_ to tell him everything. What have I gotten us into?

"Sweetheart, I'm going to need you to be a little more specific." I can see how patient and understanding he's trying to be. And I'm trying to wrap my head around everything and find a place to start but he gets paged and leaves me alone with my thoughts. I decide to stay here and wait for him. Well I didn't really have a choice in the matter since I was without a car but I would have stayed anyway. I'm not even sure how long he's going to be, but going home to an empty house isn't something I want to do. Less than an hour Edward is back and ready to go home. I don't even register the drive until he's pulling me through the front door.

"What happened today?" He finally asks as we're sitting next to each other on the couch.

"I was over at a neighbor's house and when I fainted he must have called an ambulance."

"He?"

"His name is Marcus Fuller; he lives in the green house on the corner."

"The name doesn't sound familiar, how do you know him?"

"I don't really. I mean I just met him recently. The first time was when he was walking by and I was outside with your mother. He called me by name even though I'd never met him before. We ran into each other a few times since then. He started making odd comments and."

"Odd comments?"

"Yeah, just things like to be careful but I felt like he meant something else, something more. I kept seeing him everywhere I went, and then finally he had seen me with Isabella and Leah when he said to protect the child."

"Protect the…..why didn't you tell me this before?"

"Honestly I didn't think much of it at first but after the last comment I decided to get to the bottom of it, really up until that point there wasn't much to tell."

"So you were with him earlier." He leads.

"Yeah, I decided to just ask him what was going on and what he was trying to tell me. I thought that he might have been referring to Isabella and I needed to know."

"And what did he say?" It took me a while to get through it all but Edward listened without interruption.

"So, he knew you were pregnant?"

"I don't know. Maybe? Probably? But he said child, he didn't say it was mine. Not that we had a chance to finish the conversation." My head hurts.

"Sweetheart are you feeling okay you're looking sort of pale."

"I'm always pale." Edward laughs once before putting a hand to my forehead.

"Did you eat the sandwich at the hospital?"

"I had the juice." I see his disapproving look but he doesn't say anything else about it. Under normal circumstances I'm sure he would have and suddenly my insecurities start flooding in. Normal circumstances. There's no such thing when it comes to me. I start to feel guilty because someone as great as Edward deserves normal. I wonder if this will be too much for him. I know what he's said in the past but bringing a child into this and potentially putting everyone in harms way just isn't fair to him. Ugh. I should have never gotten involved with anyone in the first place, I should have….

"Hey, whatever it is you're thinking stop it right now." I look up to see his worried eyes and feel the tears in mine.

"I'm sorry." I manage to say through my sobs.

"Oh Bella." Edward pulls me onto his lap and wraps his arms around me and rocks us slowly back and forth.

"There's nothing for you to be sorry for." He says and rubs his hand up and down my back.

"I have everything to be sorry for, we've never really talked about the future and now there's no choice in the matter. You're stuck with me for a minimum of eighteen years. And I know what kind of man you are Edward. You're the kind of man that would see this through no matter how you're feelings for me might change." He tries to say something but I don't give him the chance as I continue on my rant and just get everything out in the open.

"Life with me and my abilities isn't going to be easy and there's a high probability that our child will have the same ones. What if it becomes too much and you end up resenting me? I don't think I could handle that Edward….. I can't believe I was so careless. We never even talked about kids before and then I..."

"Do you not understand my feelings for you at all?" He looks a little dumbfounded but continues on.

"I am fully aware of your abilities and I know what I've signed up for. And if she does inherit them, then at least we'll already know how to deal with it. Not to mention that last time I checked it takes two to make a baby and while getting pregnant was not on the immediate agenda I fully planned on having a family with you and spending the rest of my life with you as my wife. I thought I made that clear the other day. I've already planned on our forever it's just a little bit out of order is all."

"You're not just saying that? You know because I'm...we're...the baby?" I sniffle and wipe my nose with the back of my hand.

"No, honey I'm not just saying that." He stares at me for a minute with conflict in his eyes before he gets a look of determination. Shifting me onto the cushion next to him he stands up and tells me that he'll be right back returning only a minute later.

"I have already made my decision but I was waiting because I thought that you weren't quite ready yet." He set a small box on my knee unopened.

"What's this?"

"Open it." I take it in my hand rubbing one finger over the velvet box before slowing pulling on the lid.

"I hope this will put your worries to rest." He says as if reading my mind. "I bought this last week and was just going to wait for the right time... So, now you know that I'd already chosen you, that no matter what comes our way I will always be here at your side." He says and I can't quite form the words I need to say.

"I'd understand if you're not ready and I'm okay with putting this away until you are. I don't want you to feel pressured, but I needed you to know the truth." He amazes me and I decide that I want to give him the same gift he just gave me. I stand up and drag Edward behind me into the other room and reach into my desk and pull out the folder I wanted to show him.

"I want you to know that had you asked me when you bought this my answer would be the same as it is now. I love you more than anything and have dreamed of becoming your wife for longer than I'm willing to admit." I hand it over to him and watch as he looks through it.

Helping Alice plan her wedding had left me with many opportunities to make notes of all the things that I would want for my wedding someday. There were business cards, torn out pages from magazines, samples invitations, thank you cards and announcements. But I think what had him smiling my favorite smile were my doodles of all the different ways I could write Bella Cullen in the margins. He's silent at first but puts the folder down and hugs me tightly whispering thanks you's into my hair. I pull back and take the ring out of the box and hand it to him.

"Will you put it on me?" I ask, and I think I see what may be a hint of a tear in his eye before he drops down on one knee.

"You've made me the happiest man alive, I love you both more than you'll ever know and I promise to treasure you everyday for the rest of our lives. Bella, will you please do me the extraordinary honor of becoming my wife?"

"Yes." I whisper and he places the ring on my finger. He kisses my stomach before standing up and then kisses me until I'm dizzy. He holds me to him again in silence for several minutes before abruptly telling me that I need to eat.

"Why don't you rest for a while and I'll make us something." Edward has led me to the couch and covers me with a blanket before treking off into the kitchen. I take advantage and close my eyes for just a minute. I didnt realize how tired I was but was startled awake by a loud sound of a dropped pan. I decide to see if I can help and walk in just in time to see Edward yank his hand away from the stove quickly before cursing quietly. He turns to me at the sound of me chuckling.

"Are you okay?" I gesture to his hand.

"I'm fine." He pulls out a chair for me at the table.

"Can I help with anything?"

"Nope, you can just sit down and relax; I've got it under control." Fifteen minutes later we're eating. Well I'm eating and Edward is mostly watching me but manages to take a few bites. Afterwards I offer to help him clean up and he finally relents after I explain that I'm fully capable. I can tell this is going to be a battle in the future.

I spot my purse sitting on the counter by the sink. I find my birth control pills and open the lid. Looking them over it's easy to figure out that I missed more than one. I feel Edward's arms wrap around me before taking the pills out of my hand and tossing them in the garbage. Still feeling exhausted it doesn't take much for him to convince me to go to bed. Cuddled together he squirms as I run my fingers over the ticklish part of his ribs.

"You said she." I suddenly recall his words.

"What?"

"You said she, when you referred to the baby."

"Huh….. I guess I did."

"Do you want a girl?" I prop up on one elbow and look at him.

"I would be happy either way; I guess I just have a feeling." He reaches up and kisses my nose. I fall asleep to thoughts of our impending family but all too quickly I startle awake from the repeating nightmare I've been having. I look over to see that Edward is also awake or perhaps _still_ awake and deep in thought. He smiles when he notices me staring at him and hugs me to him tightly.

"Maybe we could go and see him tomorrow and get some clarification." He says and I know what's on his mind.

"That's a good idea." Edward is working the early shift and would be home by three. I told him that I could go over by myself but he insists he wants to go and asks me to wait for him. I had barely managed to finish breakfast when Edward called me with the name of an obgyn that he thought highly of. After I made an appointment I sat there with the phone in my hand.

I wanted to call Rose, Alice and Leah to tell them the news but decided to wait. We hadn't gotten a chance to decide when to make the announcement, or should I say annoucements. The day goes by quickly mostly because I kept my mind occupied with the good side of things. I made a list of everything we would be needing for the baby. I thought of telling Charlie as well as Esme and Carlisle and wondered how they would react to becoming grandparents.

I guess I'd have to tell Renee and Phil too but that wouldn't be nearly as fun. Suddenly Edward was walking through the front door and after he changed we made the short walk to Mr. Fuller's house. I rang the doorbell and we waited. I looked up to see Edward looking in the window that was at the top of the door.

"See anything?" I asked.

"Nope." I rang the bell again and after a minute or two Edward knocked. The door must not have been closed all the way because it opened slightly with the force. We looked at each other at the same time probably wondering the same thing. _Should we go in?_

"Mr. Fuller?" I called out sticking my head inside. There was no response but I could hear a faint humming sound.

"Do you hear that?" I questioned.

"Yeah, what is that?" Edward asked after he took a tentative step inside.

"Mr. Fuller? My name is Edward Cullen and I'm here with Bella Swan. We'd like to talk to you for a minute."

"Marcus?" I called as I followed Edward inside. We left the door open and were still standing in the entry way. The sound was getting louder. We took a few more steps inside and took a brief look around but didn't see him.

"Maybe he's upstairs."

"What should we do?" I didn't feel right about being in his home without him being aware but the door was somewhat open I tried to justify.

"I don't know." Edward said looking concerned.

"Maybe we should wait outside."

"What if he needs help or something? You wait down here and I'm just gonna go upstairs and take a look around." Edward said and I nodded at him. I watched as he took the first few steps up before the stairwell turned and disappeared behind a wall.

"Mr. Fuller?" I heard Edward call out again. I was getting an uneasy feeling and walked through the downstairs area again just to see if _I_ could see someone.

"What the hell?" I could hear Edward's voice and I quickly followed after him. As I reached the top I could see numerous flies buzzing around.

"Edward?"

"Bella, go back downstairs." I didn't listen as I walked into the room he was in. I could see Marcus sitting in a rocking chair with his back to me. Edward had one hand covering his mouth while the other one was wrapped around Marcus's wrist.

I rushed forward to see what was happening and instantly wished I hadn't. The window that was directly in front of him was covered in flies. It was shades of Amityville. I shivered and turned to see that Marcus's eyes and mouth were wide open. Was he even alive? I couldn't look away but when flies came crawling out from from his mouth it sent me running down the stairs and out the front door vomiting over the railing and into the bushes. Edward followed pretty close behind me reaching to hold my hair back.

"Bella, honey I want you to go back home and I'll stay here and take care of this." I shook my head and sat down on the steps.

"I opened the window." Edward said quietly as he wrapped his arm around me. I stayed silent but nodded in understanding. It wasn't long before the ambulance pulled up. The lights weren't on of course since it was clear that Marcus was already dead.

After Mr. Fuller's body was out of the house and Edward was busy talking with the officer that had to file the report I made my way inside. I checked the whole house again but didn't find anything. As relieved as I was it didn't help ease the sense of dread. When I got to his bedroom I noticed most of the flies were gone.

I walked over to the window so I could close it when I stepped on something that was on the floor. I realized it was a marking pen and I picked it up and placed it on the night stand. It took a minute to get the window to budge as it was somewhat stuck but I managed to get it closed. Immediately I noticed the words 'Don't tell' written backwards.

What the fuck?


End file.
